Residents, businesses and the government need to work together to ensure that more progress is made in delivering housing opportunities, writes Ian Neilson.
We all know that with the effects of urbanisation, housing remains perhaps the single biggest challenge for many governments.
In South Africa, this challenge is exacerbated by the effects of apartheid, which removed the majority of people to the outskirts of the city, far away from the economic opportunities at the centre.
As an administration that is committed to building an inclusive city in which all of our residents have access to opportunities and are afforded the chance to live in a dignified way, much work remains to be done.
We know that our model can’t simply be business as usual. We need to find innovative and holistic solutions to our most pressing challenges and have a whole of society approach to the way we work. That means not only is housing delivery critical, but also the provision of interim relief to our residents through service delivery.
There is no quick fix to solve the housing shortage given limited resources, lack of suitable land and urbanisation. But we must do what we can, with what we have right now, to alleviate the plight of our most vulnerable residents.
The City emphasises a fair and systematic approach to housing delivery. We are trying to realise the potential of a shared responsibility approach to housing delivery in Cape Town, based on the support from the community, NGOs, the private sector and residents. We believe that the creation of integrated human settlements, as a powerful tool to achieve redress, is a responsibility that we all bear.
The question of how we can increase housing delivery in Cape Town, as an important route to achieving redress, delivery and reconciliation, should be on the mind of all our diverse residents.
In January, about R1.2 billion was approved for seven human settlements projects earmarked to start between the 2014/2015 to 2016/2017 financial years.
These include three housing projects in Macassar, Fisantekraal, and Imizamo Yethu. Most of the projects are scheduled to commence in this financial year.
We are also proud of the progress made in providing housing opportunities for residents, including new housing developments currently under way, such as the R400m four-year integrated housing project in Scottsdene, Kraaifontein; the innovative Ocean View Housing Project, which will see 543 houses built at a cost of R46m by 2015; and the Imizamo Yethu Phase 3 Housing Project at an estimated cost of approximately R200m.
In line with the City’s emphasis on building integrated human settlements, the Pelican Park Housing project we started in 2007 is already being called home by some of our beneficiaries. It is integrated across the full spectrum of affordability with 2 024 totally subsidised homes alongside 760 starter homes selling for R300 000 and 360 higher value homes valued from R480 000 to R700 000.
In this year, the council approved the planned development of the Bosasa Extension which will yield housing opportunities for 9 200 people through the provision of 1 006 housing units and approximately 1 000 serviced sites. It is envisaged that an urban park will be created in this area for residents to enjoy.
The first phase of 463 rental apartments in Langa, as part of the City’s Hostel Transformation Programme to transform the apartheid-era style hostels, is under construction. Ultimately this will see the construction of about 1 320 units within the next five years.
The City’s overall Hostel Transformation Programme consists of an estimated 12 000 units that will eventually be built in Langa, Gugulethu and Nyanga.
Furthermore, projects worth over R600m have been approved to upgrade the living conditions of backyard dwellers and residents in informal settlement areas. One such project is the City’s Backyard Dweller Programme, which has expanded from Hanover Park and Factreton to Gugulethu to positively affect the lives of hundreds of backyard dwellers residing on Council-owned properties.
The City’s R190m projects to provide services to backyard dwellers in Council-owned properties are empowering some of the most vulnerable residents. The City of Cape Town is the only metro in the country with such a programme which provides basic services like electricity, water, sanitation and refuse collection to backyard dwellers in each City-owned property that agrees to this service.
In November 2013 the Council adopted the City’s Policy to Inform the Proactive Reblocking of Informal Settlements. This was a watershed moment for residents of informal settlements in Cape Town and this programme is now being rolled out.
Reblocking is a community-based process through which housing structures are reorganised or clustered in such a manner as to decrease the extreme density in informal settlements.
This is vital for improving access by emergency and other vehicles, creating safe spaces between structures, increasing service delivery, and fostering a sense of neighbourliness where children can play safely and residents are able to keep a watchful eye on public spaces. The City has already achieved great success with its pilot reblocking project in Mtshini Wam, a settlement with about 200 households near Milnerton. Other reblocking projects are under way.
The Council Rental Units Upgrade Programme has seen 6 500 rental units around the city, including Kewtown, Scottsville, Uitsig, Connaught and The Range, being spruced up. The Manenberg CRU upgrade is scheduled to be complete in 2015. The upgrades include painting, plumbing overhauls, window and door refitting, rewiring of electrical circuits and gutter cleaning. In addition to this, the surrounding area receives attention with such efforts as bush clearing and tree planting.
In an effort to empower residents through owning assets, the city has transferred approximately 8 000 historic title deeds to previously disadvantaged beneficiaries over the past two years. The city, in the first half of the previous financial year, transferred 5 253 title deeds to beneficiaries of housing projects. A further 7 661 title deeds are at various stages of the transfer process. The city plans to finalise more than 14 000 of these historic transfers over the coming years in terms of the Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme.
The city has also acquired about 350 ha at a cost of R140m since 2007. But as you will know, housing delivery has many facets, forms and features. A quick-fix, single source-approach to housing delivery is not possible. A bouquet of possibilities and programmes must be implemented and continually explored.
To this end, a new way of approaching human settlements is being developed. The City’s Framework for the Future of Transversal Management of Human Settlements Planning and Delivery aims to ensure increased access to innovative and integrated human settlements.
The framework promotes, for instance, a greater scale and scope of delivery of housing opportunities, more emphasis on self-reliance and a shared-responsibility approach between communities, different spheres of government, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.
This framework will require a mind shift, but holds the possibility to contribute to large-scale redress and empowerment while keeping up with a continuing population growth.
The city is embarking on the development of a long-term Human Settlements Development Plan, which will feed into the Growth Development Management Plan. The plan will be aligned to economic nodes and transport corridors. The framework is setting the tone and will direct the development of the long-term human settlements plan.
The city is faced with an extremely high rate of urbanisation but we will not give up in our endeavours to create a caring and opportunity city by providing housing opportunities. We need residents, businesses and spheres of government to share resources and work together to ensure that more progress is made in delivering much-needed housing opportunities in Cape Town.
* Alderman Neilson is executive deputy mayor in the City of Cape Town. This is an extract from a speech he delivered last week at the International Human Settlements Conference of the Southern African Housing Foundation held at the Lord Charles Hotel, Somerset West.
** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Newspapers
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