October 15, 2004
By Anish Abraham
HOUSING development in Johannesburg moves into a new era with construction of the Cosmo City project to the north of the city set to begin in November.
Cosmo City - a project that will see some 15 000 medium and low-cost houses erected in a designated zone to the west of Dainfern - ground to a halt in 2002 when residents' associations went to court to prevent the development.
Apart from contesting the procedures used by the municipality to proclaim the development, the Jukskei Crocodile Catchment Area Association and the Three Rivers Residents Association argued that such developments would adversely affect the value of their properties.
The forum's application was withdrawn after it failed to send legal representatives to the court hearing and failed to meet a deadline to put in place security to cover legal costs.
The R1,5-billion project was initiated in 2001 and will see the areas north of Randburg being re-zoned for low-and medium-cost housing, industry, commerce, schools, clinics and retail space.
Council has set a goal of eradicating its informal settlements in Johannesburg by 2008 and the 11 hectare Cosmo City project aims to have 15 000 units constructed over a five-year period. Residents will have the option of occupying premises on a rental basis or of purchasing the houses.
Although the project aims to alleviate the plight of township dwellers throughout the city, preference will be given to residents from the Zevenfontein, Zandspruit and River Bend informal settlements.
The on-site construction will provide jobs for residents from Zevenfontein and Zandspruit as well as the Honeydew and Kya Sands informal settlements.
Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa has assured residents of Zevenfontein and Zandspruit that water and electricity services will be provided to their existing homes during the Cosmo City construction period.
The project will be built in phases, with phase one seeing the construction of 5 000 government-subsidised RDP houses, phase two seeing the construction of 3000 houses for use as rental units, and the final phase being the construction of bonded houses.
Gauteng department of housing spokesperson, Mongezi Mnyani, says contractors "will be on-site from 1 November" and that "phase one will take between eight and 12 months to complete and cost around R224-million".
Although Gauteng's department of agriculture, conservation, environment and land affairs, in a press release, acknowledges that the Cosmo City development "will result in the loss of agricultural land and land of biodiversity significance" it recognises the "scale of the need for housing and the fact that no alternatives exist for a development of similar scale to Cosmo City".
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