Department Of Human Settlement Welkom
Department Of Human Settlement Welkom, Welkom is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about 140 kilometres (90 mi) northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city’s Sesotho name, Matjhabeng means ‘where nations meet’, derived from the migrant labour system, where people of various countries such as Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique etc. met to work in the mines of the gold fields.
A settlement was laid out on a farm named “Welkom” (which is Afrikaans and Dutch for “welcome”) after gold was discovered in the region, and it was officially proclaimed a town in 1948. The town became a municipality in 1961. It now falls in the Matjhabeng Municipality, part of the Lejweleputswa District. Welkom was officially declared a city on 14 February 1968.
Free State Department: Human Settlements
Contact Details
| Postal | PO Box 211, Bloemfontein, 9300 |
|---|---|
| Physical | 7th Floor, Lebohang Building, Cnr Markgraaf & St Andrew’s Streets, Bloemfontein, 9300 |
| Tel | 051 405 3883 |
| Fax | 051 403 3699 |
| Web | www.humansettlements.fs.gov.za |
Overview
The mission of the Free State Department of Human Settlements is to develop cohesive, sustainable and integrated human settlements in the Free State.
The Department is committed to meeting the following specific objectives: accelerating the delivery of housing as a key strategy for poverty alleviation; utilising provision of housing as a major job creation strategy; ensuring that property can be accessed by all as an asset for wealth creation and empowerment; leveraging growth in the economy; combating crime, promoting social cohesion and improving quality of life for the poor; supporting the functioning of the entire single residential property market to reduce duality within the sector; breaking the barriers between the first economy residential property boom and the second economy slump; and utilising housing as an instrument for the development of sustainable human settlements, in support of spatial restructuring.