Fires fuel need for housing

St Montague Village backyard dwellers who face fire hazards in summer and flooding in winter, are pleading with the City of Cape Town to provide them with proper housing.

Two of these tenants who suffered a fire a few weeks ago, approached Southern Mail to share their plight (“Help St Montague Village fire victims”, Southern Mail).

Although they are on the housing list like many others, they are making a call for the most vulnerable to be prioritised, said Ralph Bouwers, a community leader from Lavender Hill.

Mr Bouwers said these people are suffering and have been waiting too long for housing. "Sandy Bowers’s structure burnt down twice already and they have to rebuild their lives over again," he said.

Ms Bowers, who has been on the housing list for 15 years, said they lost everything in the recent fire. “When we woke up the fire was already on us. Everything burnt out including our cupboards, beds, our kitchen cupboards as well as the children’s school clothes.”

Doney Goliath, who has been on the housing list for nine years, said they still need funds to repair damages they suffered in the fire. “The fire destroyed my room and toilet windows and caused a lot of cracks in the roof. We are going to have a lot of problems in winter. The carport also burnt halfway.”

Ms Goliath said she has been updating her details on the housing list every year.

Senior citizen Kurtley Meyer, who has been on the housing list for 21 years, has seven people in his shack with two rooms after he had to rebuild it in 2019 when the shack was destroyed by a fire. 

Siseko Mbandezi, the City’s acting mayoral committee member for human settlements, said: “In general, there is no specific timeframe which residents must wait before they may be allocated a housing opportunity as it depends on the availability of housing opportunities and whether applicants qualify when the opportunities do become available.

“It is important to remember that all housing projects have different dynamics in terms of the size of the project, the number of applicants who may qualify and the application date range for that project.

“The City’s Housing Needs Register is a fair system, which ensures those who are most deserving will receive opportunities in each project. It provides a mechanism to objectively determine who gets an opportunity. The City remains committed to providing homes to residents in well-located areas close to public transport, jobs, government services and public amenities.

“It is important for all beneficiaries to keep their address and cellphone number up to date so that the City can contact them when it is their turn to be assisted. To do so, they may visit this website: https://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/HWL2012Online/

"Should residents be selected for a housing project, they would be required to move away from the informal settlement or their backyard dwelling and into their new home."

When asked what were the requirements to qualify for a house, Mr Mbandezi said residents need to register on the City’s Housing Needs Register to be considered for housing opportunities that become available.

“Beneficiaries of all City housing projects are allocated in accordance with the City’s Allocation Policy and the Housing Needs Register to ensure that housing opportunities are provided to qualifying applicants in a fair, transparent and equitable manner, and to prevent queue-jumping. 

“Applicants are selected for housing opportunities based on the date that they registered on the Housing Needs Register.”

 Applicants need to meet the following criteria to register on the Housing Needs Register:

Be a South African citizen or permanent resident of South Africa

Be over 18 years old

Be married or be a co-habiting partner or else have dependents (This does not apply to applicants over the age of 60 or who have disabilities)

Have a combined income of less than R3 500 per month to qualify for state-assisted housing

Never have owned a property before

Be competent to enter into a contract

Never have benefitted from a government housing subsidy before