Capetalk celebrates 7th birthday by building 10 homes

CapeTalk has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and GrandWest
Corporate Social Investment (CSI), to build 10 houses in five days from Monday, October 11, 2004 to Friday, October 15. The new homes will be handed over to 10 families in Masiphumelele, a poverty-stricken township near Noordhoek, on Friday.

CapeTalk, Habitat and GrandWest CSI will provide volunteers each day to build the homes from scratch and the station has called on Capetonians who are able to, to throw in their lot by volunteering their labour.

This is the third year in a row that CapeTalk is building homes to celebrate its birthday and to highlight the chronic housing shortage in South Africa.

Station manager, Colleen Louw, said she hoped that the station's initiative to support Habitat for Humanity's home building projects would encourage other South Africans to do the same.

"By providing 10 formerly homeless families with a house, we are changing their lives forever. The housing shortage in South Africa should be a national priority and we encourage other businesses and individuals to help their fellow South Africans who are not only battling poverty, but who do not even have a roof over their heads," she said.

She said the project provided CapeTalk presenters and staff as well as the sponsors a first-hand opportunity to experience township life in a meaningful way.

Habitat for Humanity is a network of NGOs dedicated to eliminating sub-standard housing in the country.

Homes are not simply given away - each project is a co-operative effort incorporating the home recipient, Habitat and volunteers who help build the homes.

When complete, homeowners repay the construction costs of their house through a 10-year non-profit, no-interest, bond.

In a continuing cycle, monthly bond payments are deposited into a community-managed revolving fund and are used to build more homes. Habitat for Humanity has chosen the recipients of CapeTalk's 10 homes through its usual selection process.