May 19, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
ABOUT 702 houses in Cosmo City are to be built in a joint public-private partnership. In terms of the project, involving the City of Johannesburg, the government and 702 Talk Radio, the houses will be built by December.
The initiative, financed by First National Bank (FNB), will go a long way towards alleviating the housing shortage in Johannesburg, and in Gauteng as a whole, says Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu.
"The freedom that we fought for is now bearing fruit. Thanks to this partnership, those despondent people living in shacks will now have decent accommodation," she said during the launch on Thursday, 18 May.
In attendance was the Gauteng MEC for housing, Nomvula Mokonyane, and representatives from the City of Johannesburg, including officials from the department of housing. Representing Executive Mayor Amos Masondo was his spokesperson Nkensani Makhobela. The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Duma Nkosi, and representatives from the public sector were also present, as were scores of newly settled Cosmo residents and inhabitants from the nearby Zevenfontein informal settlement.
Mokonyane said that thanks to housing subsidies provided by the government, even people earning a minimum wage would be able to own their own properties at Cosmo City. The project would also afford low income earners to live side-by-side with high income earners.
An example of one of the Cosmo City houses
"All Cosmo residents will be able to share the same recreational facilities and children from different backgrounds will attend the same schools. This project is a classic example of what the government and the private sector can achieve."
This is not the first housing project in which 702 Talk Radio has been involved. In 2004 the radio station, in partnership with the City and the provincial government, built three houses in Ivory Park. In 2005 it constructed seven houses in Protea South, according to Pheladi Gwangwa, the station manager.
To cheers from the crowd, FNB's chief executive, Modise Moathlodi, said the bank had set aside R200-million to provide finance for 1 014 houses in Cosmo City, including the 702 houses being launched.
"Our involvement in this project practically demonstrates FNB's commitment to creating functioning housing markets in previously under-served areas," he said.
Housing construction in Cosmo City started in March 2005 and some families from Zevenfontein have already moved into their houses. By December 2005 about 450 families from that squatter camp who qualified for government housing had been relocated to the Cosmo City site.
When completed, Cosmo City will consist of four different types of housing, namely:
- 5 000 fully subsidised units of 32mē on plots of 250m²
- 3 000 credit linked, partially subsidised units of about 60m²
- 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 about 1 200 hectares in size, of which about 200 hectares have been set aside for open spaces and conservation. A further 100 hectares have been marked for commercial and industrial purposes and 15 hectares will be used for schools, clinics and other social services.
After the ceremony, Mokonyane cut a ribbon around one of the completed houses to mark the start of the project. Together with Sisulu, she made an imprint of her hands on a wet concrete slab.
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