News in brief

Western Cape welcomes proud, new homeowners

There was joy and celebrations in Blue Downs, Cape Town when the Western Cape Minister of Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela welcomed the beneficiaries of the Nuwe Begin Housing (NBG) Project into into their new houses.

MEC Madikizela handing over some of the, 294 housing units that have been built, and are ready for occupation. The project will deliver a total of 1 200 at a cost of R218 million.

The houses are for South African citizens who earn less than R3500 pm, and have not previously received a housing subsidy.

Of the 1200 available BNG houses, 900 are for beneficiaries from Khayelitsha and 300 are for residents of Greater Blue Downs and Mfuleni.

Offenders use their hands to benefit the community Correctional

Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele handed over 52 desks refurbished by offenders and 35 computers to Nozizwe Public School in Stilfontein in the North West Province.

Newcastle builds the best houses

Newcastle Municipality has won the Govan Mbeki Awards 2013 for the best Level 2 Accredited Municipality.

The award is for good work done by the municipalities in the category nominated in planning and developing Human Settlements within their area.

The municipality attributed its success to its handling of housing for its ever growing population. “The municipality is proud of having won this award. This is demonstrated by ensuring commitment to the process of facilitating sustainable housing delivery for the growing communities of Newcastle Municipality,” the Municipality said in a statement.

The Govan Mbeki Awards were introduced to promote a culture of excellence within the Human Settlement sector in the delivery of quality Human Settlements and dignity to South Africans.

KwaZulu-Natal moves closer in fighting HIV/Aids

The number of people living with HIV/ Aids in KwaZulu-Natal is declining.

Provincial MEC for Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said HIV prevalence amongst pregnant women decreased from 39.5% in 2009 to 37.4% in 2011.

The transmission of HIV from mother to child also came down from 19% in 2007 to 2.1% in July 2012 (MRC Study: 2011).

Deaths from Aids related diseases were also down from 67 429 in 2008/9 to 54 337 in 2010/11.

MEC Dhlomo ascribed the decline in HIV/Aids prevalence to efforts by the provincial government to fight the scourge.