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Newcastle Local Municipality: Ahead of attending the Provincial Budget Speech, to be presented by the MEC for Finance Nomusa Dube-Ncube, we are scheduled to hand-over 430  title deeds to the community of Madadeni and Osizweni.

We will also attend a graduation ceremony of 21 young people from the local community. They have acquired extensive theory and practical training in the built environment. We want young people to use their vibrancy and skills to drive the infrastructure revolution for many years to come.

By and large, these two events, are effectively giving us the opportunity to demonstrate, ahead of the budget speech, how the department of human settlements has spent part of R 3, 5 billion (R3,597,231 billion) received from Provincial Treasury during the 2021/22 financial year.

We will showcase how we are accelerating the title-deeds rollout programme as part of championing  the cause of the majority of ordinary members of society who were marginalised for decades by the evil system called apartheid.

Importantly, our programme today should be viewed as a decisive response to the Groups Areas Act, an uncivilized and backward piece of legislation that prevented “non-whites” from owning properties.  Through a bold intervention of the governing party, the African National Congress, we are directed to restore the dignity of the people of this province by handing-over title deed as a security of tenure.

We therefore wish to report that under Newcastle Local Municipality, we initially had a total number of 4104 properties that needed to be transferred through Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme (EEDBS) Policy.  To date, the department, working with the municipality, has successfully transferred 2 232 properties to the right-full owners.

With the easing of COVID -19 lockdown regulations, which barred our officials from doing door-to-door beneficiary verifications, we are moving with speed and high level of efficiency to clear the remaining backlog of about 1872 properties in total.

Critically, today we will also hand over certificates to 21 young graduates who have been part of our Expanded Public Works Skills Development Programme.  With a total budget of R 887 873.30 we have ensured that young people from the local community received an intensive bricklaying, plastering, roofing and carpentry training.

We have used the building of 1000 units under Madadeni H-39 Housing Project as a firm base for the acquisition of theory and practical skills for these young people who earned R2000 a month as a stipend.

We reiterate our view that the skills development of young people is fundamental to the growth trajectory that government has for the country and the province in particular.

Through our reconfigured EPWP, we  want young people  take charge of the infrastructure revolution.

We are focusing on vocational training to ensure that the people of this province are appropriately skilled to take up the new opportunities we are creating in the various sectors of the economy through the delivery of infrastructure.

Issued by the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works Jomo Sibiya