The Department of Human Settlements, in partnership with South African Women in Construction (SAWIC), have built houses for eight needy families as part of the Nelson Mandela Legacy Project which aims to achieve two essential objectives; to create a leadership talent search for South Africa's next Madibas’ and to keep Nelson Mandela's legacy alive in the consciences of all South Africans. The houses were built in the deprived Sokhulumi Village in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng. The area was declared a priority for housing development by the Honourable Deputy President, Kgalema Mothlanthe under the War against Poverty Program. The department of Human Settlements ultimately intends to build 500 low income housing units in the area over the next few years to alleviate a serious shortage of housing in the area.

“Corobrik was invited by SAWIC to supply bricks for the houses and the company duly donated a total of 21 780 CoroJem bricks to the project – 10 890 CoroJem Manor Blends and another 10 890 CoroJem Classic Blends were used in the construction of four of the houses,” explains Allin Dangers, Corobrik Director of Sales – Inland Region. Each house is constructed with single skin 150mm x 222mm x 73mm walls. Corobrik’s Corojem Wall is a proven ‘through-the-wall’ clay face brick walling system ideal for low cost housing. The National Building Regulations allow the external masonry walls of a minimum of 140mm – Corojem is Corobrik’s response to the South African Government’s challenge to provide sound, durable, maintenance-free materials within the budget constraints of the Government housing subsidy industry.

“The versatile Corojem brick, which is available in four different colours, is light to transport, and has been successfully used for countless single storey houses in the inland areas,” notes Dangers. The project was officially launched on December 12, 2012 by the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, Ms. Zoe Kota-Fredericks. During the hand-over of these houses, the Deputy Minister was very impressed with the houses that were built out of clay face bricks, noting that they looked beautiful and that due to the building material chosen, the houses of the beneficiaries would have less maintenance needs. The Deputy Minister thanked all the sponsors who participated in this worthy initiative.