Northam – 28 November 2011 marks the official handing over of four symbolic houses by CoGHSTA MEC Mr Soviet Lekganyane, led by the Minister of Human Settlements, Mr Tokyo Sexwale as part of the 310 houses to be built at Northam Ext 6. The houses will be built by Anglo American Platinum Mine for its employees.
This follows the launch of Each-One-Settle-One campaign with the tenacity of lobbying and mobilising stakeholders, private sectors institutions, donor agencies and ordinary citizens to help government reduce housing backlog.
Four show houses (50m2, 60m2, 66m2 and 70m2) were built as a symbol of the 310 units to be build. Limpopo CoGHSTA also built 1111 houses at Northam in 1997 and 2002/03 fiscal year. The CEO of Anglo Plats Neville Nicolau said the houses have solar panel which support the COP17 Climate Change Conference held at Durban.
The launch was followed by a sod turning of a whooping R120 million 5 mega litres waste water treatment plant was done by Minister Tokyo Sexwale, MEC Soviet Lekganyane, Mr Neville Francis Nicolau, CEO of Anglo American Platinum Mine and Mayor of Thabazimbi Municipality Cllr Patricia Mosito. The plant is expected to be completed in 2013 and will serve the entire population of Northam town.
The Limpopo MEC for Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA), Mr Soviet Lekganyane called on business and individuals to lend a hand in building houses for the province’s poor.
"Today as we are launching a project. We must think beyond. We must have an artistic image of how Thabazimbi will look like in future", said MEC Lekganyane. He also said that there is a need to have statistics of how many trees are needed in this municipality in support of preserving the climate. He assured Anglo Plats that their partnership with Limpopo is solid because the provincial government has direction.
Minister Sexwale said it is improper for someone to sleep in Sandton while his workers sleep in shacks. "Government cannot settle the housing backlog of 2.4 million alone. It will take 15 - 20 years to eradicate and provided the economy is doing well", said Minister Tokyo Sexwale. "Join us in the campaign Each-One-Settle-One we owe it to the people, they need houses" he said.
