The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi, visited the R85 million Masiphumelele Phase 4 housing project to check on its progress. The project will be home to 227 qualifying beneficiaries and construction is expected to be completed by the end of October 2020, if all goes according to plan.
Councillor Booi was joined by Subcouncil 19 Chairperson, Councillor Patricia Francke, for the recent site visit to check on the progress of the project. This housing project will see some of Cape Town’s most vulnerable residents from the approved target areas, including the wetland informal settlement, become first-time property owners and create employment opportunities for the local community during the construction period.
A total of 194 beneficiaries have already moved into their new homes after being given their keys at several handover events since October 2019. The City is monitoring the area to ensure that it is able to react should there be any attempts to invade the land, as can be seen at other projects across the metro.
The R85 million expenditure includes money allocated for the bulk earthworks; internal civil engineering services for the provision of water, sanitation and roads; electricity reticulation and street lighting; and formal, beneficiary-owned houses.
Construction work on site is being carried out by the City’s Human Settlements Directorate, in conjunction with the elected People’s Housing Process (PHP) Support Organisation and their appointed contractor.
The selection of beneficiaries for housing projects has been done in accordance with the City’s Allocation Policy and the City’s Housing Needs Register to ensure that housing opportunities are allocated to qualifying beneficiaries in a fair and equitable manner that prevents queue-jumping.
‘Construction was able to resume in May 2020 within health and safety COVID-19 Alert Level 4 regulations, after it was halted in March 2020 due to the national lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It is clear that much work has been done over the past few months to make up for lost time due to the implementation of the lockdown. There is a great need for accommodation in Cape Town and we will only succeed if we follow a systematic approach of first come, first served. We must safeguard our human settlements projects, which together have a budget of some R1,3 billion, despite the great pressure from urbanisation, illegal land occupations and the diminishing national grants for human settlement developments. We need all Cape Town residents to support us in our endeavours and to work with us to ensure we are able to establish a more inclusive human settlements environment for the benefit of all.
‘This project is an excellent example of what we can achieve for our beneficiaries and how we can contribute to improving their lives. Broad community support as well as the support from our beneficiaries and especially the Masiphumelele Phase 4 Project Steering Committee and the PHP Support Organisation made this progress possible. Thank you to all involved for their hard work and absolute dedication in service of our beneficiaries. It is only through working together and finding new, collaborative and innovative ways of working that we will be able to tackle the shortfall in the development of housing opportunities in the metro, especially for those earning below R22 000 per month. This is exactly why we have released our draft Human Settlements Strategy, which is currently out for public participation, to encourage members of the public to read through the proposed interventions and to have their say.
‘This housing project, as with all City projects, is absolutely dependent on community support and cooperation. We want to thank the community for working with the City over the years to ensure this project has become a reality. The City will continue to enhance basic service delivery, where possible, to this community. There are many challenges in Masiphumelele but only with the support of the community are we able to improve the living conditions of our residents,’ said Councillor Booi.