Infrastructure
With reference to the reply to question 11 of 27 June 2025:
- In terms of the “Application for consolidation, rezoning and permanent departures, erven: 35172–35174 Milnerton” submitted to the City of Cape Town for the erven in Racing Park, whether the application has been approved for (a) consolidation, (b) the rezoning for General Residential 4, (c) the site development plan and (d) the building line departures; if not, what is the current status of the application; if so, what are the relevant details;
- whether the original intention to build three-storey blocks of residential flats, measuring approximately 21 m2 each, with a total yield of 246 temporary relocation area (TRA) units, still remains; if not, (a) why not and (b) what is the current proposed use of the erven acquired in Racing Park; if so, what progress has been made on the application erven;
- (a) what number of the residents in the Siyahlala Informal Settlement has been relocated and (b) to where have they been relocated;
- whether the Racing Park erven have been used for any housing development; if not, what is the current use of the land;
- in 2020, during COVID-19, the Siyahlala Informal Settlement was identified – as one of the 29 informal settlements nationally – for priority dedensification, whether this informal settlement is still regarded as a priority; if so, how is it being implemented?
- (a)(b)(c)(d) The subject properties (erven 35172 – 35174) form part of the Housing Development Agency (HDA) landholdings, which are held on behalf of the Department and known as the Racing Park/ Killarney Gardens Human Settlement Project, but which were not included in Land Use Management applications to the City of Cape Town, when they were originally made in 2020.
The Department submitted 2 applications to the City of Cape Town; firstly, for the Rezoning and Subdivision of Erf 38368 Milnerton, a site falling outside of the Racing Park Industrial area (Phase 1), and secondly for the Consolidation and Rezoning of Erven 35148, 35163 – 35170, land portions falling within the Racing Park Industrial Area (Phase 2). Both these applications were ultimately approved by the City of Cape Town, following an extensive consultation period with surrounding communities, as well as the Racing Park Owners’ Association. These approvals are subject to various conditions of approval, mostly aimed at protecting the integrity of Racing Park’s secure access and security arrangements, as well as limiting land use conflicts between the proposed residential development on the HDA owned land, versus the Industrial land uses and associated heavy load traffic within the Park.
Erven 35172 – 35174, which are also within the Racing Park Industrial area, and situated adjacent to the other portions owned by the HDA were deliberately excluded from the Land Use Management applications at the time, as engagements with the Racing Park Owners’ Association, necessitated that alternative access to the Phase 1 development (area outside Racing Park) would be necessary to the proposed residential development on Phase 1, as well as ultimately Phase 2. During the approval process, various access arrangements to Phase 1 were investigated and discussed with the approving authorities, including an alternative access road across these properties, coupled with a small-scale residential development aimed at integrating the Killarney Gardens Human Settlement Project with the planned upgrades to the adjacent Doornbach informal settlement. None of these options was however approved by the City of Cape Town, with the City instead opting to condition access to the proposed development, exclusively through the Doornbach area and integrated into the City’s upgrading plans there.
- (a)(b) The construction of 246 residential units, coupled with an alternative access road to Phase 1 was only one of the options explored during engagements with the Racing Park Owners’ Association and the City of Cape Town, but which was ultimately not deemed as a feasible option by the City. No formal applications were made to the City related to this development option.
Erven 35172 i 35174, are still available and under consideration for development as part of the Phase 2 development proposal, and the Department recently undertook a high level best use study on these land portions to determine the most appropriate development options for all the Phase 2 land portions going forward, taking into account their location within Racing Park Industrial Park, as well as the continued need for affordable housing options in the greater Du Noon Area.
- (a)(b) Residents from the Siyahlala community are yet to be relocated and the Department is engaging with the City of Cape Town, which is responsible for this relocation process, on how the Killarney Gardens Phase 1 development can be utilised to assist with this process.
- Phase 1 of the landholdings has been rezoned for the development of a high density, multi-storey temporary residential area as per the original development proposal and all approvals related to this development are in place. Civil services have been installed, but the construction of top structures has not commenced due to funding constraints related to the construction of these high-density units. Due to ongoing pressures on the fiscus and changes to funding mechanisms, the Department no longer have direct access to Emergency Housing funding directly from the National Department of Human Settlements as originally envisaged in 2020. The Department is however working closely with the City of Cape Town to unlock these challenges related to funding and the intention is to continue with the original development proposal and commence with construction in the near future in partnership with the City.
- The Siyahlala informal settlement is still a priority informal settlement for the City of Cape Town.
