No title deeds in sight for Naledi residents

Residents of Naledi extension two want title deeds to their RDP homes and they want them now. These were the sentiments echoed at a public meeting held at Naledi Sports Complex last Wednesday evening.

“When we enter these houses they give us a happy letter so there is no excuse for why we don’t have title deeds! Happy letter simply says to me, I’m happy with this house,  give me my title deed so I can have my own house!” Lucky Mhlanga, a resident, said passionately.

Addressing a packed hall, ward 14 councillor Makapane Mokwena, unpacked the complexities surrounding the longstanding issue of title deeds ensured residents that he was on top it. Mokwena explained to residents that the houses are currently under Gauteng’s Department of Housing rather than under the City of Johannesburg (CoJ).

“We have a service level agreement with Gauteng province whereby the departments of housing of both province and CoJ have formed a committee and done surveys in the community so before these title deeds can be handed to CoJ they need install storm water drainage systems and tarred roads,” Mokwena explained.

The residents were however not impressed with this explanation as they felt they had heard the same message from his predecessors. “You are telling us about the same process that we followed with Khanyi [previous ward 14 councillor]. You are telling us about a process that will take more five years and then you leave office and we get another councillor who’s going to tell us the same thing. This was in the 2010 IDP and nothing has happened since then, you are failing us!” Mhlanga said.

Mokwena says he is currently engaging the relevant departments to come on board and deliver what has been promised to residents. Another issue hindering the issuing of title deeds is the fact that Naledi extension two has not been classified as a township yet according to Mokwena.

“There is soil erosion and holes in certain places so the streets need to get tarred so that when the houses are handed over to CoJ there are no problems and all the stakeholders have done their jobs,” said Mokwena when explaining why the classification has yet to happen.

Beyond the frustration of having lived in anxiety for years, residents are concerned that they may never get formal and recognised ownership of the houses they have raised their families in.

“When you check the time frame that we’ve been staying here, it’s more than eight years so basically the challenge that we have is that our parents are passing away and we’re going to have problems [when it’s time to issue title deeds]”, said Mhlanga.