For the first time in her life, Nomanyana Njaxa, 29, will live in a real house with her husband and two children.
She was among 400 families left homeless three years ago when a fire raged through the Masiphumelele informal settlement.
She had lived there for 10 years, losing her shack home to fire four times.
Now Njaxa and 33 other families have moved into the first completed multi-storey blocks of flats built there.
"I'm over the moon," she said, showing officials and the media around her new home.
The two-roomed flats are part of the multimillion-rand Amakhaya Ngoku housing project, largely sponsored by foreign donors and the subject of ongoing controversy, with often violent resistance from community members who will not benefit.
Once completed, it will boast 12 multi-storey blocks of flats, which will be home to 352 families.
The scheme started last November, but its completion is still threatened by a group of residents who continue to refuse to move their shacks to make way for further construction.
Premier Helen Zille and Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela officially handed over the flats yesterday.
Zille described the project as unique, saying that where development took place, conflict should be expected.
- Cape Argus
She was among 400 families left homeless three years ago when a fire raged through the Masiphumelele informal settlement.
She had lived there for 10 years, losing her shack home to fire four times.
Now Njaxa and 33 other families have moved into the first completed multi-storey blocks of flats built there.
"I'm over the moon," she said, showing officials and the media around her new home.
The two-roomed flats are part of the multimillion-rand Amakhaya Ngoku housing project, largely sponsored by foreign donors and the subject of ongoing controversy, with often violent resistance from community members who will not benefit.
Once completed, it will boast 12 multi-storey blocks of flats, which will be home to 352 families.
The scheme started last November, but its completion is still threatened by a group of residents who continue to refuse to move their shacks to make way for further construction.
Premier Helen Zille and Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela officially handed over the flats yesterday.
Zille described the project as unique, saying that where development took place, conflict should be expected.
- Cape Argus
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