The first 15 units of the R170 million Dido Valley housing project in Simon’ Town, which is expected to be completed in April, will be handed to beneficiaries in batches.
While the majority of beneficiaries are from the Redhill informal settlement, which is located between Simon’s Town and Scarborough, the housing project contains a restitution component where beneficiaries from the Luyolo People’s Housing Process were forcibly removed from Simon’s Town to Gugulethu in the mid-1960s under the apartheid Group Areas Act.
The City’s Mayco member for human settlements Malusi Booi said the first units are nearing completion while the next 18 are expected to be completed next month (May).
“We are gearing up to deliver the first houses to qualifying beneficiaries at Dido Valley this year.
“Units will be handed over to beneficiaries in batches, as and when they become practically complete.”
The project has a combined support organisation representing the two groups of beneficiaries from Redhill and Luyolo respectively.
“The group of restitution beneficiaries will be established on site soon. We are doing our best to expedite this process.”
Ward 61 councillor Simon Liell-Cock said during the site visit important issues such as stormwater management were identified.
“During the visit we identified some small but important issues around access to the homes and stormwater management around the dwellings which we felt must be resolved before putting residents in the houses.”
He added that the process of identifying and obtaining land from PWD (Public Works department) took about 20 years.
“The process of obtaining funds, identifying the beneficiaries and land claimants , obtaining environmental approval, planning, design, installation of the civil engineering infrastructure and building the top structures has taken another 10 years.”
Liell-Cock added that the first 15 houses are expected to be handed over in April or May while the completion of the remaining top structures is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.
