MC, Councillors present here today, municipal officials, Inframax Developers as well as community members, whom I hope most of them are beneficiaries of this project, I greet you.

When the first democratically elected government took over in 1994 under the leadership of the ANC, certain commitments were made. One of which was the commitment to housing our nation-the poorest of the poor.

As you all know that the legacy of apartheid left millions of Africans and Coloured communities homeless, adding to that, with no resources. Our people had no choice but to seek shelter in informal settlements. This legacy therefore makes government's commitment of housing our nation not an easy one. It means several years of waiting and countless hours of sweating. I know that waiting when desperate is not an easy thing to do, but unfortunately patience is part and parcel of housing delivery in our context.

Meanwhile it always breaks my heart to see millions of our people homeless, it moments like today's that keep me going. Today I am standing before all of you as the happiest minister on earth.

Knowing that 767 beneficiaries after almost 32 years of being homeless are today getting to enjoy the fruits of their citizenship for the first time in their lives. Getting a house through government's help means better lives-you, the beneficiary as well as your children.

To a mother / father who has received a house means that you can now go to work without having to worry about the possibility of finding your shack on fire. For your children it means they can now study and do their homework better in a safe and conducive environment, which in the end means good results. The inclusion of electricity and clean water in this package means a better and indeed improved life.

I understand this project is first of its kind in this area, and that the beneficiaries are a combination of both African and Coloured people. This is what government means by integrating our society so that they can live as one. The ultimate successes of this project demonstrate a number of things.

They demonstrate that the commitment of housing our nation by government is real and achievable. They also demonstrate that there is nothing more important than working together on issues of housing delivery.

But most importantly, they demonstrate that patience does really pay-as I am told you have been waiting since 1971 without houses, what an excruciating long period it must have been. But then again, with the right government and good officials in place, this project has shown that we can be unstoppable.

Before I can sit down I would like to salute all those who have been instrumental in the success of this project.

To the municipality, I would like to say thank you for having been a real government agent to this community. Your contribution not only in monetary terms, but also in terms of your expertise is really hard to ignore. Through noble actions like these we can restore people's faith in government.

I would also like to commend you for the democratic nature with which you have treated this project. I am told that the community was part of your entire meetings when planning this project. It is lesson from which all municipalities can learn-if you do not impose decisions on the people, your projects can never go wrong.

To the Inframax Holdings, I understand that your involvement in this project went beyond just making profit, and that you had the social conscience that guided you through. Ensuring that people understood the dynamics of the project and conducting workshops, appointing field workers at your own expense, thereby creating employment opportunities was not only a tough job but also a costly exercise, but you did it.

Without necessarily ill-speaking other developers, it is very rare to find business people with this enormous social conscience. All they are ever interested in is the profit after which they disappear into thin air. This is why my vision document for 2014 is based on partnership with the private sector.

Your making sure that this project succeeded was a complete demonstration of what government has always asked from business-a little bit of sense of patriotism in their business as opposed to the ruthless capitalistic way that normally leaves the poor even more poorer.

To the community members, just give yourselves a warm round of applause for having mastered what I call key things to the success of any project. Your indescribable sense of patience is highly appreciated by government. Not only is it appreciated, but also has finally paid up.

The fact that you have seen each other as fellow South African even though you may be from different racial backgrounds deserves more than just a 'thank you'. You have actually defied the racial hatred that was deliberately planted by apartheid among our people so that we could see each other as different and thereby giving them a wonderful chance to destroy us.

I understand that the size of these houses varies from 36, 41 to 64 square metres. There is no way this could have been possible without your contributions. You have indeed echoed the principles of the culture of involvement, contribution and participation.

It is often an exciting thing to be giving houses to people but the most heartbreaking one to hear that the very people you thought badly wanted houses have sold them for net to nothing. I sincerely hope this wont happen with project. Unless you win a lottery, any person who sells his/his house will never have a chance of owning a house again, especially with the help of government.

I understand there are two people who nearly did not get the added benefits of being a beneficiary with disabilities. Government pays extra money to beneficiaries with disabilities, and if you do not state that in your application form, we won't know. So please do state this, it is important.

Take good care of these houses, and add value by maintaining them, planting gardens and trees. Keep them clean as well as your surroundings.

We will always be a winning team when working together.