The executive committee (EXCO) conducted a tour to assess progress in the construction of the project and was pleased with the progress at the site so far. Speaking to the media during a tour of the completed houses, Nxumalo was upbeat.
“As the eThekwini Municipality, we are very excited to finally launch phase 1A of this beautiful presidential-lead project.” The units consist of two bedrooms, a lounge, a kitchen and ablution facilities. This is a far cry from the usual one-bedroom RDP starter homes. The mayor said phase 1A cost close to R100-million for both houses and related infrastructure. He said phase 1B is to begin before the end of this year. This phase will yield an additional 2 221 housing units at an additional cost of R500-million. The uptake on the business development has reached 80 per cent, and construction is also underway.
“The plan is to clear slums in eThekwini Municipality and for us to make an impact, we need to identify one informal settlement to occupy the remaining units and demolish that informal settlement completely,” Nxumalo said.
Cornubia is a mixed use and mixed income development consisting of 1 200 hectares of land. Of these, 80 hectares are earmarked for industrial development. The rest is for commercial, housing and other public amenities. The completed Cornubia Development is expected to yield 23 000 housing units within the next 10 years.
Basic services, including electricity and water, were expected to be connected by October, as the infrastructure for these services was already in place. “The first 250 people are already allocated houses. We expect all new owners to move in by November/December this year, depending on the finalisation of connecting the new housing units to the electrical grid and water reticulation system. We expect these to be completed by October,” Nxumalo said.
He added the housing project will target low, middle and upper income citizens and will also combine an industrial and commercial project, providing residents with employment opportunities at their doorsteps.
Chairperson of the human settlements and infrastructure committee, Nigel Gumede, said the municipality had plans to replicate the project in other areas. He said the process of renaming Cornubia was undergoing council processes.
“I am hoping that when the project is launched officially, the name will also be finalised,” he said.
