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Khaya Lam (my home) Land Reform Project
True Land Reform
Restoring property rights through title deeds
24 October 2019
Johannesburg
Provincial Human Settlements Minister Tertius Simmers participates in Khaya Lam Grabouw title deeds presentation
On 22 October 2019, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Human Settlements, Tertius Simmers, took part in the Free Market Foundation (FMF) Khaya Lam (my home) land reform project title deed presentation in Grabouw, Western Cape. Sponsored by Ipic Properties (Ipic), in partnership with the FMF and the Theewaterskloof Municipality (TWK), 100 township residents took their first step towards true economic empowerment by becoming freehold title homeowners. They arrived as tenants and left as home owners. The Khaya Lam project in Grabouw has seen 214 full titles transferred to the rightful recipients and is processing a further 180 which include titles in other areas such as Villiersdorp, Bot River and Caledon.
The ceremony took place in the Gerald Wright Memorial Hall, Grabouw, where the title deeds were presented by Minister Simmers, Ipic CEO Rian Maartens, and TWK Deputy Mayor Karel Papier. FMF Director Temba Nolutshungu was master of ceremonies.
Khaya Lam directly assists township residents deprived of their dignity and rights under apartheid by facilitating the conversion of council owned rental properties into freehold title - at no cost to the recipients or the local council.
A title deed makes a profound difference in the lives of the holders enabling them to improve their living standards, raise loans from banks to educate their children, start small business, access better healthcare and more. Homeowners contribute to the overall economic upliftment of a community.
In his key note address, Minister Simmers said, “I come from a community where 70% of the people live on SASSA grants. I am the first of my generation to receive a tertiary education. How did this happen? My parents had a title deed, which they used to raise a loan to educate me. This is how we can break the cycle of poverty.”
Ipic CEO Maartens said he was ecstatic to be part of the solution to accelerate the dream of home ownership and said, “ We know it has the potential to unlock enormous wealth for its owners. We were inspired by Christo Wiese and Johann Rupert who are very generous in their support for Khaya Lam, and by the #Imstaying movement that encourages people to stay in South Africa and be willing to build this nation by helping others.”
Executive Mayor of Theewaterskloof Municipality Christelle Vosloo expressed her appreciation of the impact of Khaya Lam on families. “The successes of the Free Market Foundation "Khaya Lam" project and the impact it has made in Theewaterskloof are highly respected and contributing towards the National Programme for the Restoration of Title Deeds. The project means progress towards financial liberation for the poor and helps reduce the historic backlog in title deeds. All of us dream of owning a house and Khaya Lam is making that come true. My family owns our home and today 100 more families will be able to say: ‘Khaya Lam - this is my home’.”
Nolutshungu said, “Titling in South Africa is a painstaking process complicated by a lack of records of ownership and bureaucratic complexity. Each area has its own issues and complications. It takes time and commitment to work through individual difficulties to be able to present the right title deed to the right recipient. This has been made possible in Grabouw thanks to the generous sponsorship of Ipic and others, and the hard work and dedication of the Mayor and her team.”
Black land deprivation was probably the single worst element of apartheid. But, since apartheid ended, little has changed. In South Africa today, there are still between 5 million and 7 million black households living as wards or tenants of the state without ownership of homes they have occupied for generations. There has been no systematic conversion of “council owned” and “traditional community” properties to full unrestricted ownership.
For more than 40 years the FMF has championed the cause of converting the numerous forms of Apartheid title found in the townships to full, unambiguous ownership for the current tenants. To date, Khaya Lam has facilitated 8,249 title deeds, unlocking some R1bn of “dead capital”. Khaya Lam is providing a blueprint of what can happen throughout South Africa
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A few of the recipients with Rian Maartens, Temba Nolutshungu, and the MEC Human Settlements Tertius
Simmers. At the back are members of TWK Housing staff.
Ilse Maartens, Rian Maartens, Jacob