The Western Cape Human Settlements Minister, Bonginkosi Madikizela has launched one of the Province’s biggest housing projects, the Transhex Catalytic Housing Project.
The Minister attended a sod-turning ceremony in Worcester today, 7 December.
The R2.2 billion housing project was approved on 31 August 2017 and will comprise a mix-use development, consisting of various types of housing opportunities, including BNG, FLISP, affordable housing and rental accommodation.
The development will not only accommodate community members from Worcester, but anyone registered on the provincial housing demand database in the Breede Valley Municipality. These are people living in Worcester, De Doorns, Touws River, Robertson and Rawsonville.
Transhex was identified in the Breede Valley Human Settlements Plan (HSP) as one of the proposed pilot projects for housing development and identified in the Spatial Development Framework as an area for urban development. The objective in developing Transhex is to alleviate the housing backlog. There are currently 26 800 people who require housing in Breede Valley. The provincial housing backlog is over 575 000.
The project is estimated to be completed in 2022 and will yield over 8000 housing opportunities. It will be implemented in phases with phase one consisting of 2 544 housing opportunities.
Minister Madikizela said the launch was very important to the Department and the people of Breede Valley. He said the Transhex Catalytic Housing Project is one of the province’s eight catalytic projects.
“We are investing R2.2 billion in this project to accommodate nearly 9000 families. We are no longer building houses but building communities. We are providing homes to people earning between R0 – R15 000 and those people will all be accommodated here, in Transhex,” said Minister Madikizela.
He added: “The Western Cape is a big construction site and 108 000 houses will be built in this province by the end of term of government. Transhex will be contributing to this number and there are many other ongoing projects.”
He said he was looking forward to come back to Worcester and hand over the first completed housed in a few months’ time.
He urged officials to ensure the principle of first come first serve applies in the allocation of the houses and emphasized that the elderly and disabled people be prioritised.
“We cannot have a situation where youngsters get houses before their grandmothers and grandfathers. We also need to make sure disabled people and child headed households are identified and assisted,” said Minister Madikizela.
Mrs Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka
Spokesperson for Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela
Tel: 021 483 4798
Cell: 082 953 0026
Mr Nathan Adriaanse
Director: Communication and Stakeholder Relations
Tel: 021 483 2868
Cell: 083 263 1720