Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille has turned the sod at a housing project that would house over 500 families in Manenberg.
The R123 million housing development project, situated in The Downs development in Manenberg, would be able to house 587 families and it is part of the City of Cape Town’s Integrated Development Plan.
Speaking at the event, which took place yesterday morning, De Lille said: “Housing opportunities will be provided for residents from Manenberg, Surrey Estate, Tambo Square, Sherwood Park and Gugulethu.”
She recalled how the City, in 2011, had “immediately identified Manenberg as an area in desperate need of urban upgrading and in need of regeneration”.
The housing project came about as the City’s commitment to redressing social issues within the city’s communities.
De Lille said the City had spent over R200 million to upgrade the council’s community residential units in the area.
She noted that additional resources amounting to R40 million had to be spent “to pay for additional costs incurred due to the delays caused by gangsterism and crime”.
The City recently built a R5.5 million synthetic pitch for a world-class sports facility and the Manenberg Youth Lifestyle Campus.
“We are busy transforming Manenberg into the town we all know it can become,” de Lille said.
“We believe that if the youth are given opportunities, they will not be tempted by the lure of gangsterism and drugs which has torn this community apart for too long.”