Pretoria – The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements has set aside R42 million to help home loan defaulters in Motherwell and Uitenhage in the Nelson Mandela Metro.
Eastern Cape MEC for Human Settlements, Helen Sauls-August, said the money will go to buying properties from Hlano Financial Services for the 379 houses categorised as Property in Possession (PIPs) from Hlano, who are title holders of the properties.
“The properties will then be transferred into the names of the beneficiaries, who have been occupants for over 20 years without owning the houses,” MEC Sauls-August explained.
MEC Sauls-August made the announcement on Tuesday, where she handed over the first batch of title deeds to 97 beneficiaries in Motherwell as a confirmation of home ownership and security of tenure.
She assured the house owners that they will not be removed or threatened with eviction again.
“These are their houses and they can now relax knowing that none can take their houses away,” said MEC Saul-August.
The outstanding title deeds will be processed during the course of the year.
The MEC said that the intervention follows complaints forwarded by Hlano Financial Services Pty Ltd to the department in 2014, regarding home loan defaulters and occupants of PIPs residing in Motherwell and KwaNobuhle areas.
“At this stage Hlano was aggressively pursuing the collection of outstanding bond repayments and the sale of PIPs, which would have resulted in the displacement of many families. Some of the beneficiaries include the elderly and the disabled.
“The department settled the debt with Hlano Financial Services in order to prevent eviction of beneficiaries from their homes,” MEC Sauls-August said.
She also acknowledged the critical role played by the municipality by writing off the municipal rates debt amounting to millions of rands so that properties can be transferred to the owners. – SAnews.gov.za
