City of Cape Town officials including Mayor Dan Plato and local councillors visited new housing development sites in Khayelitsha last week.
Two of the sites earmarked for development are in Harare and A Section, Khayelitsha.
The project will offer 901 qualifying beneficiaries state-subsidised homes as part of the City of Cape Town’s Breaking New Ground (BNG) initiative aimed at first-time property owners.
It will also create employment opportunities for the local community during the construction period.
Residents living near the sites, and the ward councillors for those areas said they were pleased with the new housing development.
On Thursday January 30 the City of Cape Town’s executive mayor Dan Plato and mayoral committee member for human settlements Malusi Booi, visited the the housing projects to check on its progress. During the site visit it was noted
that much work had already been done.
The City said its Human Settlements Directorate had started work on the internal services of the project which is being built on four separate erven. Once this has been completed, the construction of the houses will begin.
About R43 million has been budgeted for these services which includes the roads, stormwater, water and sewer infrastructure and more than 50% of the work on-site has been completed. If all goes according to plan, this phase is expected to be completed in September this year.
Mr Plato said the project is “testament to the City’s commitment to redress and service delivery through the provision of housing opportunities” and that when homes are built for the most vulnerable residents, it empowered them as first-time property owners.
“Our 901 qualifying beneficiaries are one step closer to receiving their BNG homes for which they have been waiting patiently for many years.
“The Harare Infill housing project emphasises our dedication to service delivery and is a celebration of the partnership between the City and the community who have been working together for many years to witness this project become a reality for our qualifying beneficiaries,” said Mr Plato.
Mr Booi added that another important aspect of the project was that it would create employment opportunities for the community as the contractors would be employing local enterprises and labour who are registered on the sub-council database to work on site.
“Over the coming months, we encourage the community to continue to support and work together with the City to ensure that this project stays on schedule so that we are able to soon celebrate the handover of these houses to our qualifying beneficiaries and their families,” he said.
Ward 92 councillor Xolisa Peter said people who had been on the database for a long time would be prioritised.
However, she said, “We must be flexible. There are seniors who registered late (and) we should consider them. The identity document
will count as well. But of course there are young people from the age of 36 that will (also) benefit,” she said.
According to the city, construction of the houses is a multi-year project and about R114 million
in total would be utilised for this phase.