The Department of Human Settlements (DHS) on Thursday launched a R75-million social housing project in Brooklyn, Cape Town, as part of its goal of providing decent and affordable accommodation for people to lead productive lives.

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale reiterated the importance of housing people in places closer to work and other amenities. The Drommedaris Brooklyn social housing project has therefore been specifically designed to take advantage of the proposed Bus Rapid Transit routes in the City of Cape Town.

“We have always said where we stay should be where we play, where we pray and where we work,” he noted.

The project was aimed at providing accommodation for people who do not qualify for government subsidised houses and cannot access mortgage loans from banks.

“The Drommedaris Brooklyn social housing project is the realisation of our long-term objective of ensuring that people who earn between R3 500 and R7 000 a month are provided with appropriate accommodation closer to work opportunities,” said Sexwale.

The project was an example of the DHS’s social housing strategy to deracialise and transform the inner cities, revitalise strategic nodes of development and tackle economic, social and spatial dysfunctionalities.

The DHS targeted areas where it could build high-rise accommodation, instead of waiting for vast lands to be unlocked for development.

The launch was attended by the Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, Western Cape MEC of Human Settlements Bonginkosi Madikizela and Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.