As part of the restoration programme that aims to ensure that the beneficiaries of government’s housing programme receive the full benefits of owning a house and are brought into the formal property market, President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the Greater Kokstad Municipality in Kwazulu-Natal recently to hand over title deeds.

Accompanied by Minister of Human Settlements Nomaindia Mfeketo and the Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba; the President handed over 443 title deeds to beneficiaries of the Franklin Housing Project. The project worth R37 million was built by the Greater Kokstad Municipality in conjunction with the KwaZulu Natal department of human settlements.

"This event is significant because it forms part of the work we are doing together to restore the dignity of South Africa’s people," said President Ramaphosa.

He said from the wars of dispossession to the 1913 Natives’ Land Act to the Group Areas Act and other apartheid legislation, black South Africans were denied the right to own property. “Millions of African, Coloured and Indian South Africans were forcibly removed from their land, stripped of their assets and consigned to a life of poverty.

"Since 1994, we have been working to correct this historical injustice by providing houses to the poor, undertaking land restitution and providing basic services like water and electricity," added President Ramaphosa. “More houses are still going to be built because we have not finished our job. “As we give out these title deeds‚ we’re saying there is still a lot of development work to be done.”.

Minister Mfeketo said they wanted to celebrate with the Franklin community because there had been blockages  in the issuing of title deeds since the dawn of democracy in 1994. She assured the President and the community that the Department of Human  Settlements was working with provinces and municipalities to expedite the handing over of title deeds to their rightful owners.