Dr Abdool Hoosen has been operating in Marabastad since 1965. Flanked by MMCs Subesh Pillay and Joshua Ngonyama, Hoosen received his title deed after many decades.
The title deeds handover to the Marabastad business community was described by the beneficiaries as nothing short of a miracle, following decades of waiting and uncertainty about the security of tenure of their assets.
On Monday, 22 June, Members of the Mayoral Committee joined the land claimants of Marabastad, some of whom have been operating in the area since the 1940s, to finally restore their dignity by issuing them with title deeds.
The handover happened under the auspices of Kuka Maoto, a programme that seeks to identify problematic areas and accelerate service delivery to communities.
A total of 126 claimants received ownership of erven that were made available by the City of Tshwane for land restitution purposes. The Restitution of Land Rights Act 1994 (Act 22 of 1994) allowed for the submission of a land claim if the applicant had been removed from the land as a result of discriminatory land legislation and policies.
Speaking on behalf of the Marabastad Community Forum, Dr Murthi Sooboo relayed how the land restitution process unfolded. “We started the land restitution process with the City in 2009. The committee met regularly and there were endless days where we scrutinised information before us where in some instances there were more than one claimant. The journey has been worthwhile.”
Sooboo thanked the governing party for the patriotic action and further impressed upon the business owners that they owe it to their great-grandfathers to restore Marabastad to its former glory.
Another happy customer was Dr Abdool Hoosen who has been operating as a professional doctor in Marabastad since 1965 and as owner of Kays Garage Filling Station since 1996. Upon receiving a title deed for the filling station, Hoosen expressed appreciation to the City for having started the restitution process. “We suffered a lot under the previous ideology. The occasion of a deed of donation rather than a deed of sale goes a long way in redeeming much of the injustice done to us.”
Speaking on behalf of the Executive Mayor, Cllr Subesh Pillay, MMC for Economic Development, said the choice of time to bestow the title deeds was very significant. “This event takes place during the month in which we celebrate the adoption of the Freedom Charter, a blueprint that expresses the kind of South Africa we want to live in. It also comes at a time when we celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and the youth of our country.”
Mr Pillay explained that the City’s Vision 2055 takes forward the Freedom Charter philosophy by defining and shaping the kind of city we want to live in. “We continue with efforts to clamp down on bad buildings under the urban rejuvenation project and Operation Kuka Maoto.
As the business community you must ask yourselves where Marabastad fits into the achievement of our vision. We cannot do it alone; the responsibility also lies with owners, residents and communities to ensure that the properties we are entrusting them with remain neat and meet safety requirements. Together, we can reclaim our urban space,” he added.
