Pretoria - The dream of having a roof over her head came true for a 36-year-old mother of two sons, Itebogeng Phakgadi, when she was officially handed over a low-cost house built by Nissan SA in Ga-Rankuwa.
For many years, the unemployed Phakgadi has been renting a backyard room in Mabopane.
She expressed excitement after she received a visit from the builders of her house, which was completed in June.
"I am over the moon and I don't really know how to thank them. I used to rent a room and life was difficult then because I am not financially stable. After I received the keys to the house I moved in immediately. I am happy that my children now have a place they can call home," she said.
Phakgadi was one of the 24 families, who were lucky to receive the four-room houses with two bedrooms.
A 36-year-old mother of two sons, Itebogeng Phakgadi, was yesterday officially handed over a low-cost house built by Nissan SA in Ga-Rankuwa by Tshwane mayor Randall Williams @IOL @tshwane_mayor @CityTshwane #House #GaRankuwa #Housing pic.twitter.com/Sf8JHv52mt
— Pretoria News (@pretorianews) August 10, 2021
The building of the houses was done in partnership with the City of Tshwane, Habitat for Humanity and Nissan SA.
Tshwane mayor Randall Williams, who was part of the handover ceremony, said: "The City partnered with Nissan SA and Habitat for Humanity to develop low-cost housing to improve the social conditions of deserving beneficiaries. The initiative forms part of Nissan SA’s Corporate Social Responsibility while Habitat for Humanity initially came in as a project manager but eventually took the lead."
Williams said the City contributed to the project by providing serviced land and has ensured that each house was connected to services such as water and electricity.
"Furthermore, this administration worked hard to ensure that this project which has faced some setbacks was concluded promptly. Today 24 houses have been officially handed over to families who will now have a place to call home," he said.
He said the City viewed the partnership with Nissan SA and Habitat for Humanity "as a humanitarian collaboration with various stakeholders coming together for one common goal of providing housing to underprivileged members of our society".
"We will always seek to embrace public-private partnerships that support the work of the City," Randall said.
The housing project was bred in 2011 when Nissan SA approached the City to request to be allocated serviced stands on which it would construct 200 houses for families living near the company in Rosslyn as part of their corporate social responsibility.
The project was however dogged with problems related to the construction process after Nissan SA entered into an agreement with Habitat to build 50 houses between 2012 and 2013.
Problems included budgetary overruns, which Nissan SA and Habitat stepped in to cover additional costs.
Pretoria News