January 19, 2005
By Ndaba Dlamini
THOUSANDS of people who live in informal settlements and backyard shacks in one of Johannesburg's oldest settlements, Kliptown, will benefit from a housing project that will see a target total of 5 700 Reconstruction and Development Housing (RDP) being constructed in the "next few years".
The Kliptown housing project, part of the Kliptown Development Project which aims to "move the Kliptown community to decent affordable housing, create employment and business opportunities specifically for small businesses", will see the majority of the Kliptown population of between 38 000 and 45 000 getting "decent" housing.
Work on the first phase of the project, a housing development located between Eldorado Park and Old Potchefstroom Road in Soweto that entails medium to high density single storey housing in semi-detached layouts, has already started, says Sebabatso Selepe, project manager in the City of Johannesburg's housing department.
"Essential services such as bulk water and bulk sewer have been installed in the first phase of the development for 1 250 RDP houses in 2005. A private company is being sought to erect top structures for housing."
According to Selepe, four show-houses were constructed on the site earmarked for RDP houses last year for people to view, two 36m² single units with internal walls and two 40m² semi-houses with no internal walls.
However, Selepe says, Council later decided to construct 40m² semi-detached houses only.
"There is limited land available in Kliptown - that is why Council decided to construct semi-detached housing. The issue of housing in Kliptown is very complex in the sense that areas for potential houses have to be cleared and surveyed, sewerage, water and electricity installed and show houses built and viewed before systematic removals can take place."
Chris Hani, an informal settlement in Kliptown, has to be cleared first before the next phase of the project takes off the ground, according to Selepe. "We are also currently having consultative talks with Klipspruit Golf Course Association to use part of their golf course for housing developments. This will mean removing some holes of the golf course, a task which is going to cost Council a lot of money."
The housing department envisages that services to a further 550 housing stands will be commissioned during 2005.
To augment the 1 250 RDP houses to be built, Selepe says construction of institutional houses by a private company, Zamani Ma-Afrika, has already started.
"The Gauteng department of housing, in a bid to fast track housing delivery in Kliptown, decided to hook up with Zamani Ma-Afrika to construct 1 200 rental stock, a project which is wholly funded by province."
Established in 1903, Kliptown is the settlement where the 1955 Freedom Charter was adopted as the guiding document of the African National Congress.
The area is overcrowded with "backyard shacks" which, in most cases, completely encase the original formal houses giving the whole scenario a shanty-town outlook.
However, the historic town has been undergoing change for the better in the past year or so. The K43 road linking Old Potchefstroom Road in Soweto to the Klipspruit Road into Kliptown has been completed. A new taxi rank capable of accommodating 250 taxis is also functional.
The pride of Kliptown, the Walter Sisulu Square where a monument, museum, informal and formal retail malls and an open area for community gatherings, is undergoing construction and expected to be complete by June 2005 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Freedom Charter meeting.
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