Owners delighted with new homes

The mixed income housing development in LehaeThe smile on the face of Joseph Ximanga expressed his unbridled joy at being a homeowner, the first in his gated community in the mixed income development of Lehae.
LNew home-owner Joseph XimangaNew home-owner Joseph XimangaEHAE is a well-fitted place to live, and Joseph Ximanga’s wide smile and Monica Mshubane’s tears are testament to this. The two are the latest residents to relocate from informal settlements to proper homes, and the first of 37 people to receive new properties in a newly built Lehae complex, in Region G.

Mshubane was tearful for the most part of the morning of Wednesday, 12 October. Her euphoria engulfed her and she struggled to hold back the tears as she painstakingly unlocked the door to her new cluster house in a gated community in Lehae, an emerging township in the southern quadrant of Joburg.

Complete with enough space to cultivate a vegetable garden in the backyard and a thatched lapa at the front, Mshubane’s home has two bedrooms, a kitchenette, a modest living room and a toilet and shower.

In her words, it would make “for comfort living once I’ve fully settled” – a far cry from what she was accustomed to. Her only concern was that there are five people in her household, “but we will make amends, we always do”.

Relocation
Mshubane’s shack in the informal settlement of Old Vista, in the Soweto suburb of Dlamini, was dismantled at the crack of dawn almost immediately after she vacated it. All her belongings were loaded on to a municipal truck and she was transported to her new home in Lehae, some 20 kilometres away.

Monica Mshubane is overwhelmedMonica Mshubane is overwhelmedShe’s happy to turn over a new leaf. “Oh praise God,” she said, streaming down her cheeks, and struggling to decide if she wanted to unpack her things, sweep the floor or join a chorus of singers in merriment.

At the same time, 65-year-old Ximanga was inspecting his new home, another cluster house in the development. He received gifts and attention, helped out offload his furniture from a truck, shook hands with over 30 people and kept on smiling – all at the same time.

The raucous sound of sporadic ululations, religious songs and recitations of cultural catchphrases filled the air and the ambience was characterised by jubilation, tears of joy and smiles as possessions were unpacked hastily and the police kept a watchful eye.

Mkhulu
Ximanga was bowled over when his affectionate name, Mkhulu, which means “grandpa” was called here and there.

A widower, he had been surviving on his pension alone in the Dlamini informal settlement, under a mouldering shack structure. He was the first beneficiary of a house in the Lehae complex.

“I feel great indeed. My soul is revived and I feel that I am also human indeed,” he said, rubbing his hands together close to his heart, an expression used to show humility and gratitude.

Serious about formalising informal settlements: Dan Bovu, the portfolio head of housingSerious about formalising informal settlements: Dan Bovu, the portfolio head of housingDuring the raining season, Ximanga said, his shack roof use to leak, dripping water into his dwelling. “It was like sleeping on the street because at any time of night I could see criminals going about their business and I was susceptible,” he noted.

He had given into the appalling state of his shack and lifestyle, and had lost any sense of optimism. But now that he has a roof over his head, Ximanga said he was elated.

He unpacked his stuff out of boxes ambidextrously. “I’m happy indeed.”

Golden Highway
Constructed on the intersection of the Golden Highway and the R553 in Joburg’s southern periphery, Lehae is a multipronged housing scheme, a project of the City and the provincial government.

The land on which Lehae is built is vast and the entire neighbourhood is surrounded by farm land, a copse of small trees and bushes, industrial units and upper income houses on an adjacent hillock.

There is a nearby area of low-lying ground of wetland and river. Neighbouring areas are Ennerdale, Orange Farm, Soweto and Lenasia. Construction is on-going and more properties are still being added to the stock, growing a fully fledged community of mixed income earners.

Once complete, the project is expected to yield over 5 000 properties, comprising fully and partially subsidised houses and more than 1 000 bonded houses. There are different typologies, including semi-detached units, row units, standalone and cluster homes.

To date, about 1 500 residents have received title deeds and have moved into their new properties, including beneficiaries from Dlamini informal settlement, Old Vista, Eikenhof and Thembelihle in Soweto.

Informal settlement
Dan Bovu, the portfolio head of housing, handed over house keys to Mshubane in an official ceremony on 12 October. “The City has fulfilled its promise. This is a demonstration that we are serious about the programme of formalising informal settlements,” he said.

Mshubane signed a register of owners and will be given a permit allowing her partial rights to occupy the house and pass it on to her children once the full township processes is completed. This, however, does not allow her to put the house up for sale.

Bovu said the City’s policy on the eradication of informal settlements envisaged the demolition of all informal settlements in Johannesburg by the year 2014. Through the provision of sustainable settlements, the City sought to provide households with recognised addresses so they could open bank accounts and enter into other contracts.

With Lehae, the City wants to create an integrated community fully furnished with six community facilities, two secondary schools, two primary schools, four crèches, a library, eight religious institutions, two taxi ranks, four business sites and 38 public open spaces for recreational and other facilities.

There are about 180 informal settlements in Johannesburg, with about 190 000 households, over 25 percent of Joburg’s 3,2 million population. This doesn’t include about 17 000 hostel dwellers and those living in decaying buildings in the inner city and some 90 000 backyard shacks.

It is estimated that in total there may be 300 000 households living in informal settlements around Johannesburg, a course for concern, Bovu says. A new policy on the regularisation of informal settlements by at least 2014 was enacted in 2008, to help fast-track the regularisation of informal settlements.