17 low-cost houses have been handed over to beneficiaries at Fransfontein Settlement in Kunene Region.

The houses were constructed through the Build Together Programme, which was revived to help address homelessness at the settlement. 

"When you receive this house, it is immovable property. You cannot move this house from here to there. So it is just standing there, but because it is immovable, it has a value that, at the end of the day, you can use as collateral. So that house is an asset to you at the end of the day. I am urging those of you who are not yet in this programme to start lining up so that you also benefit from becoming a house owner, and by doing so, we will start to develop Fransfontein and give it status at a later stage that we call Village Council," said Sebastian !Gobs, Khorixas Constituency Councillor.

!Gobs also called on the Kunene Regional Council to speed up land delivery at the settlement.

On behalf of the housing beneficiaries, Antonia Kamuhake expressed her joy.

"I am thanking God for making this possible. He knew about this day already. We were worried about the lack of houses because it took so long, but God had plans. We are really thankful for this day."

Also speaking at the event was National Housing Action Group Director Heinrich Amushila.

"I would love for the houses to be well looked after. As you can see, the windows are in, and we would not like to see broken windows or other stuff. We just want the houses to be well-maintained. These houses are not for the state but for you. I just plead that you adhere to the repayment as this will enable us to help others build houses."

The houses were constructed under the settlement development budget of N$1.4 million, with four nearing completion.