City of Cape Town shelves Wolwerivier housing project

The City of Cape Town has decided not to proceed with the expansion of Wolwerivier settlement. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Brett Herron, mayco member for Transport and Urban Development, said this was mainly because of the location of Wolwerivier, 30km from the city.

Wolwerivier is designed as an Incremental Development Area (IDA), for people waiting for better housing but some residents have been there for years. Many were relocated from informal settlements that were demolished, such as Skandaalkamp, or are formerly homeless. The area has high unemployment.

As part of its Integrated Housing Project, the city in July this year, announced its plans to build 4,500 housing units at Wolwerivier.

But asked by GroundUp about progress with the project, Herron said: “The City of Cape Town has recently decided not to proceed with the formal development of housing at Wolwerivier, mainly due to its location. The city is of the opinion that there may be other and better located sites that should be prioritised first, for the development of housing opportunities,” said Herron.

Two weeks ago, the city announced that it will turn 13 sites near the city centre into homes for low-income households. (View photos of the sites.)

Herron said the city still owned the Wolwerivier site and a decision would be made about its future.

He also said the city was assessing the demand for regular minibus taxi services to the area. Herron said Wolwerivier was serviced informally by the minibus taxi industry which connects the area to other larger transport nodes such as Dunoon, “thus linking commuters to a wider range of transport options and services such as the MyCiTi bus service”.

“The city’s Transport and Urban Development Authority is currently in the process of assessing the demand for regular, formalised minibus-taxi services, in and around Wolwerivier,” he said.

“In addition to the assessment of taxi operators, plans also include the engagement of Sibanye Bus Services, who currently serves Atlantis, to be able to go via Wolwerivier.”