Hope turns to reality as Jacksonville families set to receive houses, title deeds

THE PROMISE of a better life is set to become a reality for several families in Jacksonville on Monday, September 8, when the Northern Cape MEC for Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta), Bentley Vass, officially hands over new houses and title deeds.

The handover will take place at 2pm at the Jacksonville 139 Housing Project. Vass will be joined by councillors from both the Frances Baard district and Sol Plaatje local municipalities.

The Jacksonville project forms part of the province’s R1 billion housing project launched in January 2024. It has already begun changing lives. In July this year, some beneficiaries received their homes as soon as they were completed — a deliberate move by the department to prevent vandalism and ensure that families could immediately take ownership while construction on outstanding houses continued.

In addition to the handover, the MEC will also plant trees in Jacksonville as part of Arbour Month.

Monday’s event marks another step in the province’s housing drive, ensuring that families not only receive shelter but also the security of formal ownership through title deeds.

The handover in Jacksonville comes shortly after another recent initiative in the province’s land and housing efforts.

On August 29, MEC Vass, joined by the MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Land Reform and Rural Development, Mase Manopole, and local government leaders, presided over a major land restitution and tenure reform ceremony in the Namakwa District.

Beneficiaries included the Eskuinskuik Co-op, Vioolsdrift CPA, Tatie Newman CPA, Pella CPA, Concordia CPA, and Kamiesberg Local Municipality. In total, 610,081 hectares of land were handed over to seven legal entities.

“CPAs are meant to be vehicles for wealth creation, not division. Failures often stem from poor governance, exclusion, and a lack of transparency. We urge communities to ensure that CPAs do not become tools of new exploitation, but rather platforms that empower and unite people,” Vass said at the event.

MEC Manopole added that the department would work with communities in managing their land: “The department, together with you, will establish monitoring and evaluation systems for each project, ensuring that land serves the people and not narrow interests.”

The Namakwa handover followed a similar ceremony in Alexandra Bay on August 28, where land was returned to the Richtersveld community.