March 9, 2005
By Ndaba Dlamini
MORE than 6 000 families living in informal settlements south of Johannesburg will have a proper roof over their heads by the end of 2006.
The City of Johannesburg's Housing Master Plan, approved by the council on 9 December 2004, identified communities living in the informal settlements of Dlamini, Eikenhof and Thembelihle for relocation to Vlakfontein West, a "greenfield" housing project. Smaller communities were also earmarked for relocation, namely those in Old Vista in Region 6, Mshenguville, Orlando East, Orlando Park, St Mary's in Region 10, and Kapok in Region 11.
Patrick Shao, the deputy director for housing, says the plan is part of the City's efforts to ease the housing crisis. "The master plan is a five-year implementation document for housing projects in the City. It identifies, guides and maps out housing projects per financial year, for example, implementation of services and the actual building of houses on identified sites."
Vlakfontein West, or Lehae, is located in the south-western quadrant of the intersection of the Golden Highway and the R554 road to Lenasia.
Sebabatso Selepe, project manager in the housing department, says that according to the funding agreement between the City and the Gauteng department of housing, the three-year project will cost R186-million.
"The Lehae project will cover 6 352 stands. Phase One, or Vlakfontein West Extension 1, will consist of 3 134 'turnkey' houses of 36mē each. Phase Two will cover the remaining stands. These houses will be built from scratch by the City and the only thing that will be required of the beneficiary will be to turn the key to his or her new home. We are also investigating the possibility of densifying Vlakfontein West Extension 2 to contain 7 000 stands."
Work has already started on 3 134 stands in Vlakfontein West Extension 1, says Selebe. "The development of bulk and internal services is well under way and a start has been made on the construction of foundation rafts for top structures."
According to a report from the department of housing, the first houses will be available for occupation in March 2005.
In 2001 the City resolved that the communities of Eikenhof, Dlamini Camp and Transport House be approved as the targeted beneficiaries for the Lehae development. The former Southern Metropolitan Local Council, however, had approved the development of Vlakfontein Extensions 1, 2 and 3 in 1998 to cater for the relocation of the Thembelihle community near Lenasia.
That settlement originally numbered about 4 603 families, of which about 1 500 were relocated to Vlakfontein Extensions 1, 2 and 3, leaving about 3 103 families in Thembelihle. According to the housing department report, 537 housing subsidies for the families had been approved and an additional 2 319 applications for housing subsidies have been submitted for approval so far.
The urgency of the Lehae housing project has been fuelled by new arrivals moving into the space vacated by relocated families, which has swelled the total number of families at Thembelihle to more than 6 500 already, says the report.
The smaller settlements at Old Vista, Mshenguville, Orlando East, Orlando Park, St Mary's and Kopak total about 1 252 families, making their relocation easier as they "can all be cleared in one go". "The smaller communities can also be relocated as and when stands become available and as subsidies are approved, with the result that the demand for, and supply of stands can be better managed," adds the report.
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