Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
City’s housing project demonstrates commitment to redress and
job creation
Note to editors: this is an extract from the address delivered by the City’s
Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, today at the sod-turning event for the
Belhar-Pentech development which will house 340 families. This will be the
City’s first subsidised housing project fitted with solar panel lighting and more
than 100 EPWP jobs will be created during construction.
Good morning, goeie môre, molweni, as-salaam alaikum, shalom.
Today is truly a wonderful occasion.
For the City of Cape Town, the provision of housing is a key strategy for
redress.
As a caring city, we also know that this is an important step in improving the
living conditions of the disadvantaged.
We believe that when we give someone a home we are not just giving them
a better future, we are also righting the wrongs of the past.
We believe that we are not just building houses, we are building communities.
In one year from now, the ground we stand on today will be the site of 340
new homes.
People from Belhar, Bellville South, Ravensmead and Elsies River who have
been on the housing database for many years will finally become
homeowners.
We have invested R34 million into this development – the first of its kind for the
City of Cape Town.
This is the very first low-cost housing project in the City that will have a solar
lighting system installed.
The solar PVC panels that will be fitted are produced locally, and will be
charged during the day so that they can be used at night. Because all of the
lights in this development will be powered by solar power, residents will not be
left in darkness when load shedding occurs. Not only is this good for the
environment, it will also reduce residents’ electricity costs.
In an effort to speed up delivery, we have appointed one contractor who will
be building the houses and installing the bulk infrastructure simultaneously.
This will enable all bulk infrastructure to be installed within the next six months.
In one year, each of the beneficiaries will be able to walk into their new twobedroomed homes.
The houses have been designed in such a way that beneficiaries will be able
to extend their homes in the future, as 120 m² of land has been allocated to
the families.
Along with their new homes, they will also have access to a better life.
This development is in close proximity to employment opportunities, transport
routes, social amenities and schools, so residents will not only benefit from
having homes, they will also have access to essential opportunities such as
employment and education.
To underline our commitment to being an opportunity city, we have
committed 10% in rand value to the creation of Expanded Public Works
Programme (EPWP) work opportunities for the surrounding community. This will
see the creation of 100 EPWP work opportunities during the construction
phase of the development. These workers will receive R3,5 million in wages
from the City of Cape Town over the next 12-month period.
Local contractors will also be afforded the opportunity to apply for subcontracting tenders. We have budgeted R5,25 million for this purpose.
Therefore, a total of R8,7 million will go towards the creation of opportunities
for the local communities.
A Project Steering Committee has been overseeing the allocation of housing
opportunities to those who have waited patiently while registered on the
housing database.
The Subcouncil 6 councillors, community leaders and officials from the City of
Cape Town worked together to ensure that this process was just and
equitable.
I would like to thank the committee for uniting around a shared goal for the
well-being of this community.
They have spent weeks holding workshops with the beneficiaries, providing
them with information and guiding them through this life-changing process.
Your hard work has brought us here today.
Today, we come together to celebrate your success with this sod-turning
ceremony.
It is a success that we all share in, because this progress would not have been
possible if we did not all work together.
I know that there must have been times over the last decades that you lost
hope.
However, I also know that the wait will soon be worth the while.
Your patience will be rewarded by a better life for you and your families.
Within one year you will have an address to a home that you can call your
own, with a renewed sense of belonging in the City of Cape Town.
I thank you. God bless.