Groundbreaking feat for Kliptown residents
The project is estimated to have come at a cost of R5 million and 200 homes are being built
The area close to the golf course in Kliptown Extension 11 has been a hive of activity over the past few months. Construction workers have been hard at work, building homes in a housing project which will see many owning a home for the first time in their lives.
The project is estimated to have come at a cost of R5 million and the 200 homes being built will be appreciated by residents as the housing crisis in the country deepens.
The City of Johannesburg‘s mayor Herman Mashaba visited Pimville on August 22 with City Power in order to launch the third phase of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing project which has been taking place in the area.
The RDP houses that are being built are without electricity as construction is still incomplete.
Mayor Mashaba dug in during the sod turning ceremony in celebration of the year that passed since his election campaign in which he promised that houses would be delivered to Kliptown residents.
The final phase of the project is ensuring that the homes are provided with a reliable electricity supply.
Mashaba said that he expected the project to be completed within a three to six month period and that Pimville residents will no longer have to be afraid of the dark, unlit streets which makes it difficult to spot criminals who lie in wait for unsuspecting victims.
Residents who attended the meeting were extremely excited about their RDP houses as they were now official homeowners.
The City of Johannesburg and City Power are working towards making the oldest township in Soweto a brighter and safer area.
For many years the Eldorado Park community have been experiencing high electricity outages due to the number of illegal connections that have been taking place in the Kliptown and Pimville area and the electrification phase would go a long way in alleviating this burden.
Councillor Peter Rafferty said, “To me, it will deal with a lot of issues that we have in terms of crime and public lighting. People will be supplied with adequate electricity, no more illegal connections and what it means for the people of Eldorado Park is fewer outages.
“He also added that Kliptown was the birthplace of the Freedom Charter and expressed his concern that the state in which the area was.
“Rafferty added that projects like these would go a long way in taking Kliptown forward and bettering the lives of residents who have not accessed electricity for many years.”
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