Pretoria, 06 August 2010 Two months ago Katrina Steenkamp and her son were sharing a house with her sister and her family. It was not ideal living with eight family members in a two bed-roomed home in Nelmephius. Steenkamp’s son has always wished for a home for his mother and when he heard of Tau Village he told her.

“My life has changed. I came here in June and I can really feel that I am liberated. I can walk to the clinic, shops, church and many other places that are of great use to me. This place has given me a new lease in life at my age,” says the 60-year old mother.

Tau Village is a social housing project in Pretoria that was launched by Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale on Friday. It is a public-private partnership initiative, with a core funding injection of R4.7-m from Sexwale’s department. The total cost of the project is R30-m.

“I associate myself with this project because it represents the type of sustainable human settlements that we are building as a legacy for our people,” says Minister Sexwale.

Tau Village currently comprises of 81 family units, 20 units for vulnerable girls between the ages of 11-18, including abused children, children affected by prostitution and victims of human trafficking. It also has units for the elderly, and the disabled. Before government became involved, the building was a drug den and a brothel.

 “When we came into government and moved from housing to human settlements, we said we want to move away from dotting the landscaping with houses. Instead we want to build human settlements where people are able to grow, to work and be part of the South Africa we are building. Tau Village is an example of the partnership we encourage” says Minister Sexwale.

“We call on other private sector partners to invest in projects such as Tau Village, and to work with government and communities – in particular, in the inner cities – to upgrade buildings such as these and provide safe and affordable shelter to those in need.”

For more information contact:
Mandulo Maphumulo
082 210 7424

Issued by the Department of Human Settlements
O6 August 2010