R300m for Khayelitsha CBD
31 July 2003
The City of Cape Town has approved a R300-million initiative to develop the Khayelitsha Business District. The development is a joint venture between the City, the private sector and the community of Khayelitsha.
The Khayelitsha Business District is located in the sprawling township with a population of about 500 000.
The development will include a retail centre, a service station, municipal offices, bus and taxi terminus, sports facilities, a multi-purpose community centre and 1 000 residential units.
Project manager of the City of Cape Town, Andre Human, said the development forms part of a strategy to regulate informal trading in the area to eliminate friction between the informal and formal trading sectors.
"We are currently drafting a security strategy to ensure that the business district is a safe and secure environment," he said.
The facilities will complement the existing magistrate's courts and regional offices of the
social services department.
He said about R250-million of the development costs would be secured from the private sector, while local, provincial and national governments would provide an additional R50-million for the taxi and bus terminus, the community centre, roads and other infrastructure services for the residential units.
Mayoral committee member for economic and social development, Alderman Clifford Sitonga, said the development of the business district was a strategic investment for the City.
He said the initiative would boost the National Urban Renewal Strategy announced by President Thabo Mbeki in February 2001. The strategy focuses on areas of greatest deprivation, aiming at stimulating investment in economic and social infrastructure.
"I appeal to the private sector to not only evaluate the investment opportunities in monetary terms, but to also take into account the potential for human development, reducing unemployment, generating private savings
and creating a stable and proud community in Khayelitsha," Sitonga said.
Source: BuaNews
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