2012/08-August 2012 - City of uMhlathuze

Massive affordable housing project for City
Council has given its in principle support to a massive six
thousand unit housing project proposed for Richards Bay, which
would see a direct investment of R4 billion and the creation of
about 12 300 job opportunities over an eight to ten year period
for the City of uMhlathuze.
The project has been mooted by a high-level consortium
consisting of Sappi Southern Africa as the land owners, Mutual
Construction Company (MCC) as the property developers,
Lereko Investments (Pty) Ltd as Sappi s BEE shareholder and
AMB Capital Limited, an independent financial services company.
A delegation led by Valli Moosa, the former National Minister
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and a founding partner of
Lereko, initially presented the concept plan to Council and way
forward to the Council in October 2011.
The consortium s research into the housing needs of the
City revealed that the rental market is underdeveloped and there
is a dire need for affordable housing. As such the emphasis of
the development will be to provide affordable housing, thereby
creating exciting opportunities for new home owners, local
contractors and labour in the area. There is also willingness to
include a social housing component to the development should
the demand exist.
The proposed 361 hectare project is situated north of
Birdswood. The development will be mixed use and constructed
in 16 phases over a period of eight to 10 years.
Included in the development is:
• A commercial stand of 23 612m 2
• An office stand of 4 471m 2
• Filling station erf of 5 276m 2
• Community facilities totalling 10 265m 2
• Hospital of 29 984m 2
• Frail care facility of 12 933m 2
• Worship and pre-school stands of 9 052m 2
• A high school stand of 42 711m 2
• Two primary schools totalling 57 599m 2
• An electrical substation of 927m 2
• 262 single residential stands zoned “Low density
residential 1”
• A retirement village of 265 units covering 88 471m 2
• 94 medium density residential stands consisting of 2 422
units (30 units per hectare) covering 821 272m 2
• 51 high density residential stands consisting of 3 177 units
(60 units per hectare) covering 533 600m 2
• Open space of 105 990m 2 .
Mr Moosa said: This is a large development project that will
open up a number of suburbs for the City. We believe this
development would change the face of the City. When the project
starts it will be one of the biggest construction projects being
undertaken in the country at that time.
He added: The Environmental Impact Assessment is at an
advanced stage and the application is to be submitted imminently.
The application for rezoning of the land is also imminent. The
estimated launch of the project is well timed for 2012 and
marketing will be launched at the same time. This may seem
fast but we have been working on this project for the past three
years doing planning, business modelling and raising the initial
development capital.
5
The SAPPI Development Project was well received by Councillors
during a presentation. Seen after the presentation are (left):
Valli Moosa (Lereko) and (right) Mayor Elphas Mbatha
Meanwhile timing of the phases and the development of
social services, such as schools, will largely depend on how
quickly stands are snapped up once they are available for sale.
Likewise the delegation was unable to give an indication of
prices. This is not a low cost housing or RDP housing project.
As it is a commercial development, it would not be wise to give
numbers and prices at this stage, but it is our intention for the
development to be affordable. Within the affordable bracket there
will be an upper level of affordability and a lower level, said Mr
Moosa.
The formalisation of the township will be further considered
during the Environmental Impact Assessment and the KZN
Planning and Development Act processes.
Veiligheidskameras kom
in Munisipale Geboue
‘n Tender vir die voorsiening, instellasie en bedryf van Geslote
Kringtelevisie (GKTV) is aan Iqhila Security and Projects
toegeken. Die tender is ter waarde van R310 000 en
daarvolgens sal GKTV binne die munisipale geboue
geïnstalleer word en die staf sal opgelei word om die
suksesvolle werking van die stelsels te verseker.
Die kontrak sluit in die instellasie van
kringtelevisiekameras in die Departement van Finansies,
die parkeergebied aan die buitekant en die Loodgietersafdeling,
sowel as die kantore van die Burgemeester,
Munisipale Bestuurder en die raadslede..
E: Iqhila Security and Projects has been awarded a
R310 000 contract to supply, install and commission CCTV
camera systems within the municipal buildings as well as
transfer the necessary skills to ensure the successful
operation of the systems.