Social Development
On 30 January 2025, the Minister of Infrastructure announced that the Tafelberg School building would be used for the delivery of social services:
- What feasibility studies were conducted before his Department requested the use of the Tafelberg School building for uses for social services, (b) when did the studies commence and (c) who conducted the studies, (d)(i) what was the cost of the studies, (ii) when were the studies concluded and (iii) what was the recommended outcome or suggested use of the site, (e) what is the intended use of the school building, (f) will the use be residential or out-patient, (g) who will run or operate the service and (h) what is the foreseen cost to his Department of the operation to provide the delivery of social services at the Tafelberg School site?
(a) The Department of Social Development will be putting out a call for proposals for use of the property once all planning processes for the site have been completed by the Department of Infrastructure, including sub-division of the property. The call for proposals will include a requirement for all prospective non-government partners to put forward a business plan for use of the property, which will include feasibility considerations. The proposals received will be evaluated by the Department of Social Development together with the Department of Infrastructure for credibility and best public value. The Department will not be conducting any additional feasibility studies outside of this process.
(b) Not applicable.
(c) Not applicable.
(d)(i) Not applicable. (ii) Not applicable. (iii) Not applicable.
(e) The Department intends to put out a call for proposals to the public for operation of an older persons home on the site including cross subsidisation for low-income residents. The choice of service has been informed by the shortage of space in older persons homes in central Cape Town and the strong potential of the site to leverage cross-subsidisation due to its position on prime property. Should the available space allow, the Department is open to looking at other alternatives too to broaden social service footprint.
(f) Primarily residential.
(g) See reply to (e) above.
(h) This will be dependant on proposals received.
