Ngwathe Land Reform Project
“Each-one-house-one”
Leon Louw:It is hard to think of a single idea that would boost South Arica more than this project … the unleashing of the wealth in land into the hands of the people, and, through them, into the economy at large.
“Land reform” should focus on the 7 to 10 million council-owned township houses in urban areas where the vast majority of South Africans resideand not on 40,000 farms.
Initiated in 2010 in Ngwathe (Parys), Free State, the FMF’s land reform project serves to convert land currently held under a complex variety of restrictive tenures and titles to unambiguous, freely tradable ownership.
On 22 October 2013, 100 years after the 1913 Native Land Act was passed, the Honourable Free State Premier, Ace Magashule, released the first 100 fully tradable title deeds to black home owners in Ngwathe municipality (see attached Special Chairman’s Letter). This year, we aim to transfer 2,000 or more properties (already 340 are with the conveyancers).
In the run up to the launch, FMF and project partners resolved numerous complex issues ranging from the conversion of property-related debt to civil debt, waiving electrical compliance certificates, and managing mismatched council and deeds registry records.
Having ironed out the problems and considerably simplified the process, FMF has managed to reduce the cost per transfer to R1,650. In other words, for a mere R1,650 YOU can give an Ngwathe resident a home and help set a precedent for replication elsewhere in South Africa.
Project objectives
- To upgrade all 33,000 lawfully held plots in Ngwathe to unambiguous, tradable and mortgageable ownership at no cost to the lawful residents.
- To create a case study for replication in all other areas of South Africa in which old forms of occupation exist.
Budget per transfer: R1,650
We would appreciate it if you would make a donation towards this critical project.
How to donate
To donate online using your credit card click here, or fill in this form and email / fax it to Gail Day, on 011 884 5672 or gailday.fmf@mweb.co.za or phone Gail Day on 011 884 0270 with any questions you may have about assisting us.
Thanks & regards
Herman Mashaba | Chairman