The Eastern Cape government will officially open a State of the Art of the multi-purpose community facility built at a cost of R24 million rands to the Thorn Hill community in Ndlambe Municipality, Port Alfred on 12 December 2014.
MEC for Human Settlements, Helen Sauls-August and Ndlambe Mayor, Councillor Sipho Thandani will open the facility for community use.
The Multi-Purpose centre has a gymnasium, netball field, offices, change rooms and multi-purpose hall for community use. Thorn Hill is one of the Ministerial Breaking New Grounds Projects developed to eradicate Informal Settlements in the province in 2006.
Thorn Hill residential Settlement was built in 2009 with 509 housing units already complete. It is a model of a complete integrated residential settlements with fully occupied houses, tarred roads, street lights and running water and now a social amenity. The project is a mix mode development with semi-detached homes, Community Residential units and subsidy homes.
With the extended mandate from Housing to Integrated, Sustainable Human Settlements, the department has introduced an approach that intends promoting a sense of community where people ‘live, work, play and pray’.
While the Department of Human Settlements receives a budget primarily for housing delivery, it has become more imperative that the houses are part of a community and that community requires additional amenities from both the private and public sector. The MPCC serves as a cornerstone facility to generate social togetherness and community life that becomes a catalyst for further development through other state institutions, the private sector and also the community itself.
The handover of the facility will be held as follows:
Date: 12 December 2014
Venue: ThornHill Ndlambe
Enquiries:
Lwandile Sicwetsha
Cell: 071 6711770
