November 18, 2005
By Lucky Sindane
EXECUTIVE Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo and his executive committee yesterday took a sho't left to the R2-billion integrated housing development north of Randburg, known as Cosmo City.
At the new houses, a group of people gathered around a truck loaded with furniture belonging to two new beneficiaries - Miriam Phiri, and Danger Mahlangu and his wife Sophie Mahlangu from Zevenfontein informal settlement. They were waiting for the mayor to hand over the keys to their new homes.
Cosmo City beneficiaries have been drawn from the informal settlements of Zevenfontein, Zandspruit and River Bend, as well as the small community of former farm workers who were employed by the previous owner of the property.
When the moment finally arrived, Mahlangu was so excited that he even asked the mayor to provide land to keep their cows.
"I've been staying here for the past 37 years and I have cows. I'm asking the mayor to help with some land so that I can keep my cows in a nice, safe place," he said, adding, "I really love this place, I grew up here and I'm going nowhere. I am very happy that the government is doing something for us."
The first 37 beneficiaries from Zevenfontein squatter camp who qualified for government housing were relocated to Cosmo City on Monday, 7 November. By December 450 more families will have moved into their new homes.
"This shows that work is happening here," Masondo said. "Before we started with construction a lot of people were complaining about this project. There were a whole lot of issues and we had to go to court to resolve them."
After completion Cosmo City will consist of four different types of housing, namely:
- 5 000 fully subsidised units of 32mē, on plots of 250mē;
- 3 000 credit-linked units that will be partially subsidised, and about 60mē in size;
- 3 300 fully bonded houses that will be sold on the open market; and
- 1 000 institutional units that will be flats for rent.
Cosmo City is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. All Zevenfontein residents have been encouraged to register for government housing, but so far only half of the people have done so.
During yesterday's roadshow, the mayor performed a sod-turning ceremony at the site of a multi-purpose community centre, one of the new community facilities planned for Cosmo City.
The development covers an area of about 1 200 hectares, of which about 200 hectares have been set aside for open spaces and conservation. A further 100 hectares will be used for commercial and industrial purposes and 15 will be used for schools, clinics and other social services.
The project is also expected to create hundreds of jobs and stimulate economic activity in the area.
"This is indeed a ground-breaking project," Masondo said. "After completion a book or two should be written about this project. The experiences that we had should be properly documented.
"One of these experiences is that of Esther Sibeko, one of the first beneficiaries. She had to wait for 93 years to get a proper home."
The day ended with a public meeting at the Diepsloot Youth Centre and Library in Diepsloot. About 500 community members attended. Only a few were able to raise their concerns, while others were given questionnaires to complete.
Some of the concerns raised by the community were the need to establish a youth unit within the mayor's office to oversee youth projects, crime, a name change for Diepsloot, naming of streets in the settlement, monitoring of projects, establishment of a veterinary clinic, a 24-hour clinic and sub-letting.
Responding to some of the questions, Masondo said, "All the concerns that were raised here will be taken into consideration.
"We need to monitor all the projects that are carried out. We recently went to a place called Mayibuye in Region 1 and 2 and I was shocked to see a park that was half [finished]."
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