The City of Cape Town’s Human Settlements Directorate has been recognised for excellence in creating integrated communities, with its Happy Valley development being named the Low Cost Housing Project of the Year by the Southern African Housing Federation.
The award was made a ceremony at Spier Wine Estate on 17 September 2013.
The Happy Valley Project was seen as an example of how an informal area can be successfully converted into a formal housing area. There were originally approximately 1 500 informal structures on the land, and these were replaced with 1 452 formal houses for identified beneficiaries. The occupants of the informal dwellings had to be relocated to transit areas during the construction phase.
The project cost R185 million and was carried out as part of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme. It was jointly funded by the City of Cape Town and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape.
“The City is delighted at this wonderful achievement. Despite challenging project and community dynamics, we have been able to provide a superior product to the Happy Valley community. This is what our work is all about – creating communities in which the people of Cape Town can flourish,” says Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Tandeka Gqada.
“This is an important illustration of our common goal to build sustainable communities. The success of this project shows what can be achieved when all stakeholders share a common vision. I would like to thank everyone involved who made a contribution, especially the Happy Valley project team,” says Councillor Gqada.
Construction of the project commenced in May 2011, and the first keys were handed to beneficiaries in January 2013.
Speaking at the handover of keys in January, Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille, said the City is committed to building sustainable, integrated human settlements, regardless of the challenges posed by rapid urbanisation and the effects of apartheid-era planning.
The Executive Mayor said the Project Steering Committee was instrumental in lobbying community members to support the development. “The beneficiaries were proactive during the fruitful negotiations to temporarily relocate some of them within the area to allow construction to start without avoidable delays. I would like to thank them for their co-operation, patience and tolerance throughout the process because for community projects like this to succeed, they need the support of the local residents.”
