Pretoria - Head of Investment and Infrastructure in the office in the Presidency Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa moved this week to allay fears that the Mooikloof Mega-city development was not transformative enough in nature.
The development east of Pretoria which will in time see 50 000 inclusionary sectional title units built to house an estimated 250 000 people, was both applauded and criticised when launched last weekend by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP) was one of the groups to question if black people would benefit from the value chain or merely become consumers of the project.
In a series of interviews this week, Ramokgopa gave more insight into the project and said it had multiple elements of transformation. This despite criticism that Balwin Properties – a major player in the sectional title market – is white-owned and managed, and questions raised on how it secured the deal.
Mooikloof is one of 50 projects – 18 of them residential – on which the government had commitment following the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium in June, and the first to be launched.
Infrastructure investment seen as a critical driver of future growth of the South African economy, especially post Covid-19.
While the development costs will be borne by Balwin, a public-private partnership means that the provincial government will upgrade Garstfontein Road to deal with the anticipated increase in traffic, while the City of Tshwane will invest in water and energy infrastructure, for example.
These two arms of government ensure they work with those with the correct BEE status and in addition obligations had been placed on the developer to source materials and assign sub-contracting work to black businesses, and develop artisanal skills as it creates jobs for more than 40 000 construction workers and thousands more in the value chain.
Ramokgopa is due to meet with representatives of the Black Business Council next week to discuss the country’s infrastructure development plans in more detail.
The development will accommodate what in the housing market is referred to as the “gap market”, said Ramokgopa, namely those who earn too much for a fully-subsidised “RDP” home but not enough to access capital for a bond to buy.
He gave the example that through the FLISP (Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme) government subsidy scheme, someone who qualified could be subsidised to the tune of R80 000 on a R400 000 loan, so reducing their debt obligation to R320 000 and making bond repayments for a home in one of the capital city’s most desired neighbourhood affordable.
The first units have already been sold and the sales office on site is expected to be busy this weekend as aspirant first-time home buyers go out to see if, with units selling from R495 000 to R799 000 this may be where they would like to set up home.