DA will deliver deeds overnight in Soweto: Mashaba

Under the DA's administration, residents and small business owners in Soweto will get their title deeds overnight, Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba said.

"What I am saying to the people of Soweto is that overnight we will ensure that people actually get title deeds to these properties because these properties belong to them," Mashaba said during a visit to a business complex in Dobsonville, Soweto. 

He was in the area to meet local business owners and listen to their grievances.

Ownership of a title deed gave average South Africans the power to generate wealth for themselves and for their families, he said.

"When you have a title deed of a property, it really gives you pride as a person that you own something."

He said businessmen such as Edward Zweni, who were third generation business owners, risked being kicked out of their properties at any moment because the City of Johannesburg owned them.

"Once our people have got title deeds then they know no one can kick them out unless they want to sell it, and sell it at a profit."

He urged small business owners to give the DA a chance to prove itself by voting for it in the upcoming local government elections.

If they were not impressed with the party’s work, they would not have to wait another 21 years to see change happen, he said.

"We need the people of Soweto to really understand that the power is in their hands to determine their own future. Let them use their votes in ensuring that political leadership cannot abuse them any longer.

The “Zweni Butchery Buy and Braai” is one of the longest-running businesses in the complex. Edward Zweni's grandfather opened the shop in 1968.

Zweni said seeing a businessman of Mashaba's calibre running for mayor gave him hope that small business development would become a priority for the city.

"This shop was my grandfather's and when he died my father ran it. And when my father passed away, I took over. But our problem is that when my father died, he had not sorted out the issue with the title deed, so that thing is still a problem for us today. I hope that he can help us with that."

Zweni said a number of shops in the complex that were opened around the same time as his grandfather's had closed down, without the owners getting title deeds.

"Some of those shops ended up closing and we as the kids are still struggling to claim these title deeds. But there is still hope. I feel we must give him a chance."

Source: News24