Gauteng premier launches R11-billion 'post apartheid city'

06 May 2015 - 15:57 By Penwell Dlamini

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has announced that there will be no municipality which will be allowed to sell land to the private sector for development which does not fit government's plans. Speaking at the launch of the Vaal River City in Sedibeng‚ Makhura said provincial government wanted development to take place at a large scale in order to make an impact in the lives of people.“Every development must meet the needs of our people. We cannot allow municipalities to just sell land to private developers to build small things that are insignificant‚ just petty projects. Just building a Pick'n Pay which is not linked to anything...I know that we must look at the empowerment of black entrepreneurs but work with us on big plans that impact on the quality of life of our people‚” Makhura said.The premier announced that provincial government was introducing with new strategies to attract private investment. One area of focus was to reduce the period that developers wait for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)‚ to improve this from about a year to just three months.“Private sector is willing to come to the party. What government must do is provide leadership and do things fast‚” he said.Makhura today officially launched the Vaal River City development‚ which is a partnership between provincial government‚ municipalities and the private sector. The municipalities include Midvaal‚ Emfuleni and Sedibeng.The new development‚ which provincial government says is a “post apartheid city”‚ will be built at a cost of about R11-billion. It will be anchored on the Vaal River which flows through different areas in the Vaal Triangle.The development includes: municipalities and government offices which will provide all the public sector services to the community; the community will also enjoy 60 000 square-metres of retail and lifestyle developments; 40‚000 square-metres of office space; 20 hectares of park land including cycling and pedestrian paths; 5‚000 mixed housing units; and -a bus transport system.The development will be built on 250 hectares of land which has 6 kilometers of river frontage.A total of 10‚000 jobs are expected to be created during construction and 19‚000 at the operational phase.Construction is expected to begin before the end of 2015.- RDM News Wire..

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