She said this during the handover of title deeds at Samson Sefuthi Hall alongside Premier Mxolisi Dukwana last week. Kubayi detailed that over R50 million has been allocated under an urban development grant for residents of Botshabelo and around R60 million for informal settlement upgrading.

Before her visit, the Community leader and Chairperson of the Mangaung Service Delivery Forum, Potso Motoko, had raised concerns over the backlog of RDP houses in Botshabelo. He said Kubayi must come and account to people who have not received their residential sites for the past 20 years. He said residents of a newly established settlement at Botshabelo West will not be bullied to vacate a piece of land that they occupied.

The Minister of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi, visited Botshabelo. Photo: Screenshot

Kubayi said the main issue with illegal settlements is that most of them are faced with the challenge of being struck by disaster as they have not been assessed by engineers or checked if they are safe for occupation. She added that government will assess the safety of land occupied illegally in Botshabelo West so that alternative land can be provided if it is found that it’s not safe.

She called on the community of Botshabelo to join hands with the government to address issues of illegal land occupation.

Minister Kubayi called on the community to join hands with the government. Photo: Screenshot

Meanwhile, Dukwana thanked Kubayi for delivering title deeds to residents of the Free State. He said this will go a long way in addressing issues of land ownership and it will also bring back dignity to residents. Kubayi also visited Welkom to hand over title deeds.

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