Human Settlements
In the light of the recent devastating shack fires in Khayelitsha; what is his Department doing to address the issue of the high density of shacks in the Western Cape’s informal settlements?
With regards to the recent fire in Khayelitsha, my department interviewed suppliers that specializes in alternative, rapid constructed housing units to establish possibilities and the capacity to deliver.
My department was in negotiations with the City of Cape Town to make available suitable land that was identified close by for the erection of these housing units.
A Site Development Plan was drafted to enable the engineers to design the services.
Units were designed by my departmental architect to give an indication of housing possibilities. These units could serve as emergency units and / or easily be converted to permanent 2-bedroom family units.
My department has appointed a professional team (project managers, town planners, land surveyors, engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, environment specialists and stakeholder managers etc.) to consider the draft proposals and to execute the project.
Furthermore, the City of Cape town has a re-blocking and super-blocking strategy for informal settlements which seeks to address the issue of high density in informal settlements. This approach allows for the creation of access roads and emergency services to allow for de-densification.
