The construction of a housing development project at SST in Town Two, Khayelitsha is about to commence, given the building of the curbs and sidewalks.
The Silvertown Emergency Housing Project is along the Spine Road near Embengweni braai place.
Ward 93 councillor Thando Pimpi said the construction is expected to commence at the end of the month. He said more than 1 200 flats are going to be built.
“The underground infrastructure and electrification have been finalised. They are busy with building curbs and sidewalks. Maybe later this month, the construction will start.
The first beneficiaries are the 352 households who were affected during the shack fire incident in 2018. After that we will target the shacks that are built on road reserved and those that are built on top of the sewage system at SST,” he explained, adding that areas will follow.
He said the project is expected to be completed in 2027. He described the housing backlog as a nationwide issue. He urged the beneficiaries to be patient and not do anything that will derail the project.
“I know some of the people have been on the housing database for many years. They even lost hope from the government. And because of the anger that they have they can influence others to protest,” said Pimpi.
Melt Botes, spokesperson for Western Cape Department of Infrastructure Minister Tertius Simmers, said the project is an emergency transitional housing area (TRA) project which will later be converted into units for permanent qualifying beneficiaries. He said at least 1542 TRA units will be built, consisting of 5 superblock, three-storey structures.
Botes said these units will be converted into 771 units.
“The electrical infrastructure component is complete, and the civil infrastructure component will be completed later this month. The construction of top structures will start as soon as the building plans are approved by the City of Cape Town (CoCT) council,” he said, adding that the total estimation of the project is R244 million.
