Residents of Bekkersdal and Zenzele informal settlements who have been living on unsafe dolomitic land, will sigh with relief now that they’ll be relocated to another ambitious Mixed Income Housing Development called Westonaria Borwa.
Local Government and Housing MEC Humphrey Mmemezi made this announcement today (Wednesday, 27 July) during the launch of yet another Breaking New Ground (BNG) housing development in Westonaria. This project was born out of the need to relocate approximately 15 000 households from the unsafe dolomite land the residents of the informal settlement have been occupying.
In 2002 the department set the process of identifying a suitable land first.And when the Bekkersdal Urban Renewal Programme was launched in 2004, “We committed to build decent houses for deserving people of this area”, Mmemezi said. He continued: “A stone-throw from this project we are launching today is Simunye, a completely new township we’ve developed”.
“And today we are launching another development, which will be bigger and better. This demonstrates our ongoing commitment to provide sustainable human settlements for the residents of Gauteng”, said Mmemezi.
The newly acquired land will accommodate 15 000 households. However, the MEC said this land in Westonaria Borwa is unable to accommodate all the intended beneficiaries. “Therefore, additional land is still required to respond adequately to those that are yet to be relocated to safe land”.
This housing development is a joint venture between the Department Housing, Westonaria Local Municipality and Crimson King Properties, which donated the land and have since been appointed as the turnkey developer for this project. Once completed, Westonaria Borwa, which lies cheek and jowl with Westonaria town, will see 6 092 mixed development residential units being developed.
The project will be developed over five years and will be split on a 50:50 basis. This means that 2 838 stands will be for the fully subsidized housing component and a further 2 611 stands are earmarked for bonded stock. The rental component of the development comprises further 439 units.
The first phase of the development will begin in this current financial year with the installation of services on 1000 stands. Then during the 2012/13 financial year, 1000 top structures will follow. Then the remainder of the fully subsidized houses will be constructed during the following two years, and the bonded component, as and when the market dictates.
Designed in accordance with (BNG), as an integral core design principle, this development will reflect a mixed income and mixed tenure options. That means the development will have fully subsidized housing, bonded housing, middle income housing and rental stock.
In addition all the supporting infrastructure in terms of education, business, healthcare facilities, transport, public open spaces and other land uses will be catered for. Westonaria Borwa follows on the heels of similar mixed development projects such as Cosmo City, Chief Albert Luthuli and Lufhereng just to mention but three.
For more information contact:
Motsamai Motlhaolwa
Cell: 079 897 2240
Eddie Mokoena
Cell: 083 602 5652
