Ward 94 community leaders in Khayelitsha are pleased with the progress of the Khaya Infill Housing Project.
According to the leaders if all went as planned the project will be completed by September. The project was established in 2017, but the installation of underground infrastructure began in 2019. The actual building of houses kicked off last year.
Xolisa Peter, Ward 94 councillor, said everything was going smoothly. She said more than 400 people are expected to benefit from the project.
“Everything is going well at the moment. There were about 80 people who moved into the new houses last year before the December holidays, for we didn’t want the houses to be vandalised.”
Beneficiaries are the backyarders from sections A, B, C, D and Tsepetsepe informal area. “When the project was started I was a ward councillor (previous term), and we were under ward 92,” Peter explained. “Then there was re-demarcation and now we are under ward 94.”
She said at least 70% of the beneficiaries would be backyarders in the ward, 10% from Tsepetsepe, 10% from the broader Khayelitsha and another 10% for people living with disabilities.
“Khayelitsha was established in 1983,” Peter explained. “We will use a database, but targeting people who have a long service in Khayelitsha.
“Although someone may be an elder he or she may have arrived in Khayelitsha in 1990, after someone younger than he had registered for a house before they did.”
The Khayelitsha Development Forum deputy chair Thandi Msutu said it supported any development occurring in the area.
“Anything that will improve our economy and create jobs for people is something we support,” she said. “When we see housing development we celebrate because people will move out of the shacks.”