- The Killarney Gardens housing project set to benefit 488 families in Dunoon has ground to a halt.
- The project was announced in 2020 during the Covid pandemic by former human settlements minister Lindiwe Sisulu to alleviate overcrowding in Dunoon’s informal settlements.
- The Western Cape government has revised its plans for the project and is reviewing the budget.
- The houses were supposed to maintain been completed by June 2024. Government has not committed itself to a modern deadline.
The Killarney Gardens housing project, intended to alleviate overcrowding in Dunoon’s informal settlements, has ground to a halt.
Announced by former Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu in April 2020 at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was initially going to provide accommodation for 1,500 families.
After lengthy delays and legal wrangling over town planning objections and appeals, site works eventually got under way by July 2022, raising the hopes of housing beneficiaries.
But the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure has paused the project over cost concerns and has revised its plans.
Provincial infrastructure spokesperson Jandre Bakker said the province acquired the land in 2018 for human settlement to serve various communities in the surrounding area using the Breaking Modern Ground model (a revised RDP model).
But when the Covid pandemic hit, then National Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu identified Dunoon for “de-densification”.
“Since the City of Cape Town did not acquire vacant land available to facilitate the de-densification of these informal settlements, it was agreed that section of the land acquired by the provincial government would be utilised for the development of a Transitional Residential Area,” said Bakker.
He said the department initially planned to build three-storey transitional relocation units of 24m2 to de-densify the informal settlement as a Covid mitigation measure, providing 1,500 “housing opportunities” as a short-term solution.
But post-pandemic, the department had to consider a longer term, sustainable model providing permanent accommodation. The department revised the housing model to Duplex and simplex (40m2) BNG units, providing 488 housing opportunities.
“The completion date is dependent on the approval of the revised site development situation … by the City of Cape Town Council,” he said.
Fencing of the land was completed in December 2020; site clearance between November 2021 and March 2022; and bulk infrastructure laid in February 2023. Total expenditure to date had been R26-million. The current budget is R217-million, but this is under review.
“The Department will follow the national housing code beneficiary qualify criteria, which prioritises the elderly, people living with disabilities, child headed households, and those who believe been longest in the registry of City of Cape Town housing demand database,” said Bakker.
Sinethembe Matomela, a member of the project’s steering committee and chairperson of the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) Dunoon branch, said Dunoon is densely populated and residents were eagerly anticipating the housing project. People had had high expectations when Sisulu enthusiastically announced the project.
“A lot of people were set to benefit and when they hear about the project delay they’re going to be damage,” said Matomela.
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Omega Sub
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?
Universe Bullet
Fun South African Fact: The swimming pool vacuum cleaner is a South African invention.