By Thomas Thale
A CHUNK of land in Diepkloof Zone 3, once a squalid, congested squatter camp, is set to receive a major facelift, with a R60-million development earmarked for the area.
The development will see an upmarket shopping centre, a townhouse complex and a private hospice being built in the vicinity to create what will be known as the Diepkloof Extension 3 Neighbourhood Centre.
Diepkloof's Neighbourhood Centre
The development, which was made possible by the signing of "Development Reservation Agreements" by the Joburg Property Company (JPC) and three property developers, will be built on land that was previously occupied by the Mandelaville informal settlement.
The settlement, at the corner of Immink Drive and Eben Cuyler Drive, was cleared in 2002 and residents relocated to state-funded housing in Durban Roodepoort Deep, a disused mining complex in the west of the city.
In a media statement, JPC, which is responsible for managing City property, disclosed that Grendelton Investments, a joint venture between McCormick Property Development and Cyril Ramaphosa's Millennium Consolidated Investments (MCI), was awarded the rights to develop the Diepkloof Plaza on 15 000mē of land. The shopping centre is expected to be anchored by major retailer Shoprite.
The statement said that Sirad Properties, a wholly owned BEE closed corporation, would invest R17-million to develop 60 simplex units. "The 90mē units will offer high-quality finishes and will add value to the entire precinct and surrounding areas."
According to the JPC, Hospice Association of the Witwatersrand has also signed an agreement to develop an R8-million Soweto Hospice on the site. Soweto Hospice currently operates from facilities at the Mofolo Clinic.
"The facility has a nine bed in-patient ward, a centre handling some 40 trainees per session and a home-care visiting team consisting of five professional nurses and 48 community care workers visiting some 500 home-bound patients each month," said the statement.
Leila McKenna, Managing Director of JPC, welcomed the interest shown by developers in Soweto. "The fact that seven viable proposals for the development of the neighbourhood shopping centre were received from well-established developers clearly indicates a growing commitment to economic development in Soweto," said McKenna.
On-site work is scheduled to begin in March 2005 and to be completed by early 2006.
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