Pictured - MEC Vass, Councillor Wildschut and Hantam Local Municipality Mayor, Councillor Koos Alexander congratulating a Tittle Deed Recipient (Second from Left)
Calvinia
Twenty-five families in Calvinia have a new place to call home after the latest handover of houses under the Calvinia 200 Housing Project took place today. MEC Bentley Vass, responsible for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) in the Northern Cape, and Hantam Local Municipality Mayor Cllr. Koos Alexander handed over the keys to qualifying beneficiaries.
The handover forms part of the Northern Cape’s R1 Billion Housing Project, which aims to accelerate the delivery of dignified housing across the province. This latest group of 25 houses brings the total number of completed units under the Calvinia 200 Housing Project to 126.
The remaining houses are currently under construction and will be handed over to beneficiaries as soon as building is complete. Government officials said the state remains committed to providing dignified housing opportunities and improving the lives of residents in the Hantam municipal area.
Addressing the new homeowners, MEC Vass encouraged the community to collectively choose a meaningful name for the new residential area, as well as street names that reflect local heritage, values and aspirations. “Names that resonate with the community foster a sense of belonging, identity, and familiarity among residents,” Vass said.
He asked residents to work with the municipality to come up with names that tell the story of Calvinia and its people.The MEC also urged beneficiaries to work together with Hantam Municipality to gradually dismantle informal structures built in their yards. He explained that keeping additional informal dwellings on subsidised housing properties can create problems during municipal assessments. “It may lead to instances where a single household is incorrectly regarded as having multiple sources of income or constituting more than one household,” Vass warned.
The housing handover concluded MEC Vass’s Pre-Budget Activities in the Namakwa District. He will present the CoGHSTA Budget Vote 9 to the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature during a special sitting in Calvinia on Tuesday, 23 June 2026.
