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Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale reiterated the importance of housing people in places closer to work and other amenities, at the launch of the R75 million social housing project in Brooklyn, Cape Town today (Thursday 24th March).

‘We have always said where we stay should be where play, where we pray and where we work’, said Minister Sexwale.

He added that this was part of his department’s way of providing decent and affordable accommodation for people closer to areas of work, transport and where they can lead productive lives.

The Drommedaris Brooklyn Social Housing project -- located in the Koeberg Road – has been specifically designed to take advantage of the proposed Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) routes of the City of Cape Town. This means people will not spend longer than necessary getting to and from work.

The project is part of the department’s social housing initiative that aims to provide accommodation for people who do not qualify for government subsidized houses and in the same process cannot access mortgage loans from banks.

“What we are witnessing today is the realization of our long term objectives of ensuring that people who earn between R3500-7000 are provided with appropriate accommodation closer to work opportunities in the process improving economic conditions,” said Sexwale.

This project sets a good example of the Human Settlements’ social housing strategy to deracialise and transform the inner cities, revitalize strategic nodes of development and to address economic, social and spatial dysfunctionalities.

‘We want to revitalize and transform our inner cities by creating housing opportunities and giving a chance to people who would otherwise be overlooked by banks for mortgage bonds while not qualifying for the subsidized houses.

‘We are also saying in areas where we can let us go high rise instead of going wide on the ground. This means we don’t have to wait for vast lands to be unlocked for development.’

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