The vital community engagements about the next chapter of the City of Cape Town’s R320 million hostel transformation programme has got under way. On Saturday, 22 February 2020, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi, met with ward councillors and community representatives from Nyanga (Super Nkathazo and Hlazo Village), Langa and Gugulethu (Section 2 and Section 3) about the programme.
Much work has been done in Cape Town over the years to uplift the people living in the dreadful hostels that South Africa inherited from the country’s apartheid-era past.
The focus has especially been on Langa thus far. As one of the city’s oldest suburbs, it is home to some of Cape Town’s worst affected hostels. However, the City is looking at the situation holistically and inclusively. Cape Town has approximately 11 000 hostel bed spaces within Gugulethu, Langa and Nyanga.
In 2010 a survey was done to identify the status of all the hostel bed spaces within the city. Based on this survey, the hostels were ranked in terms of the severity of their condition. In this way, an objective model was used to determine the priorities for this programme.
Roughly R250 million has been spent on the programme thus far and 463 new apartments have been built. The next phase of the programme in Langa, which will start over the next few months, will see the construction of an estimated 660 new apartments on the Special Quarters and New Flats sites in Langa at a cost of some R320 million.
‘The hostel transformation programme is about redress, transforming the daily lives of some of the most vulnerable people in South Africa and giving self-respect and a greater sense of belonging to families once separated and stripped of their dignity by the migrant labour system and apartheid legislation in South Africa. Although the majority of the worst hostels are situated in Langa, the City decided to appoint a panel of consultants to do framework planning for all the hostel areas within Cape Town.
‘We are very focused on engagements with the affected communities because this programme is based on partnerships and a selfless desire to ensure that those who are worst off, are helped as fast as possible. Over the next weeks and months, we will be engaging various affected communities and potential beneficiaries. We need to follow a systematic and transparent approach as we cannot do all of the areas at the same time. Community support is thus vital. From the City’s side, we will do everything in our power to get the programmes rolled out in the shortest possible time,’ said Councillor Booi.