Millions injected to develop Kliptown
Housing programme in Kliptown has since 1994 seen 2600 units being built.
Johannesburg Executive Mayor Parks Tau says more than R600 million has been injected as an investment between the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Government to further develop Kliptown.
The Executive Mayor was speaking at the launch of the Kliptown Development Project, in Soweto, on Tuesday.
He said government remains committed to Kliptown, not only as a historic place but also as a living, dynamic community where people have survived under oppression and now flourish in freedom.
“We are succeeding in uplifting and improving our people’s living standards. To realise this goal, our government has over the last decade invested a total of R802 million in the redevelopment of Kliptown.
“These funds came from the Gauteng Provincial Government and the City of Johannesburg. These funds were largely spent on housing developments, informal trading facilities, development of heritage sites, storm water upgrades, and social amenities such as parks and complete streets,” the Mayor said.
He said in the current Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, the City of Johannesburg continues the development of Kliptown with a further investment of R677 million between itself and the Gauteng Provincial Government.
He said the funds are intended to support the human settlement development projects to be implemented by the City’s Housing Department.
“Work on the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication will be on strategic interventions, supporting the activation of this public space and improving the functioning of community and urban management systems,” he said.
In 1996, government developed a plan for Kliptown, in which the Greater Kliptown Development Framework proposed ways of boosting Freedom Square — now the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication (WSSD), as a historical tourism site, with a museum, public spaces, a park, a range of shops and informal trading sites.
The Mayor said today Kliptown also boasts a new taxi facility, improved access to roads to the area, rehabilitation of the wetlands and construction of housing and community facilities.
He said the housing programme in Kliptown has since 1994 seen 2600 units being built.
“These included fully subsidised freehold housing units, also known as RDP Houses and social housing units, managed by the City’s Social Housing Company,” he said.
Since 2010 a lot of projects have been executed by the City of Johannesburg in the area with costs amounting to R60 million, and the Mayor said the investment has improved the lives of residents whose dignity was trampled upon over long and bitter years of apartheid. – SAnews.gov.za
