GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality won four awards in the the Provincial Govan Mbeki Awards at the annual event in Cape Town that celebrates excellence in every form of the human settlements delivery chain.
Municipalities enter their various projects and compete for a spot amongst the province’s best housing developments. George municipality scooped awards in three different categories:
Uniondale Housing Project – George – 1st runner up
• Best Rural Housing Programme
Uniondale Housing Project – George – Winner
ERF 304 Haarlem Farm Worker Housing Project – George 1st runner up
• Best Farm Residence Housing Assistance Programme
ERF 304 Haarlem Farm Worker Housing project – George – Winner
The Provincial winners will represent the Western Cape Province in the National Govan Mbeki Awards in November 2016.
The Executive Mayor of George, Aldm Melvin Naik, said the Govan Mbeki Awards is an indication that George Municipality is a trendsetter in the affordable housing market. “The Uniondale project is the result of quality control from the Municipality's side in ensuring that people receive decent quality housing. And it is decent housing, because it has a value of R162 000.
George Municipality is in the process of processing title deeds for the relevant beneficiaries. ”I'm also very proud about the Award for the best farm housing assisted project, which the Haarlem farm housing project received. This was public private partnership, one of my focus areas, with outstanding quality.
This project is an example of what can be done. I would like to congratulate our staff, Portfolio Councillor of Housing, Cllr Belrina Cornelius and contractors on a job well done.”
“We are being acknowledged for our performance and service delivery in respect of our Uniondale EPHP Project and our Haarlem Farm Worker Housing Project and have received awards in three different categories. We look forward to representing the Western Cape Province at the National Govan Mbeki Awards due to be held in November 2016.
“We are positive that our dedication and commitment to quality service delivery will secure us an achievement on the national platform as well,” Mr Botha said.
The Uniondale Housing Project is a Best Enhanced Peoples Housing Process Project which was made possible by funding provided by the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements. This project has a total value of R25 million and will eventually when completed provide 183 housing opportunities built according to the new minimum norms and standards of the provincial Department of Human Settlements (DoHS).
Two different show houses were built, the one with cement blocks and the other with maxi clay brick building. Both house options include a 100 liter geyser and a kitchen cupboard with a sink, two bedrooms, a bathroom with bath and face basin and an open plan living area with a kitchen.
The Haarlem Farm Worker housing project was a collaborative project between HAS Consultancy, Provincial DoHS) with George Municipality appointed as accounts administrator and to ensure quality control with the Provincial DoHS as well as the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC). A total of 20 houses have been built and handed over to the beneficiaries with only the electrical connections remaining to be installed. The total value of the project equates to nearly R5 million with the landowners Strydom Landgoed and Witteberg providing the bulk of the funding.
The annual Govan Mbeki Awards creates healthy competition and is used as a monitoring tool to ensure delivery. The awards provide motivation to all stakeholders in the Human Settlements sphere and honour the role players in the housing value chain including building contractors, the banking sector, community based organisations and building material suppliers that have committed to partner with government in building sustainable human settlements.
The awards were named after Govan Mbeki in 2006 based on the role he played in human settlements of partnering with key stakeholders in order to continue building a nation free of inequality.
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