Light at end of tunnel for 91 residents of 'tin can town'

Blikkiesdorp‚ a bleak relocation camp built a decade ago on the Cape Flats‚ has finally produced a good news story.

More than R10-million is being spent on training 91 residents of the notorious “tin can town” in Delft‚ which has been likened to a concentration camp‚ in construction skills.

After building their own homes and escaping the corrugated iron shelters they have been living in for years‚ there are hopes that they will then be able to find employment as builders or start working for themselves.

The skills development programme was announced on Thursday by the Airports Company of South Africa‚ False Bay Technical and Vocational Education and Training College in Westlake and the City of Cape Town.

The first 42 recruits started at the college on Wednesday‚ and mayor Patricia de Lille said she was delighted that 43 of the 91 were women.

Acsa has invested R5-million in the project‚ which includes a 12-month programme for the National Certificate in Community Housebuilding‚ a 30-week bricklaying course and a three-month programme involving bricklaying‚ scaffolding and health and safety education.

The construction sector education and training authority has made a grant of more than R6-million to False Bay College‚ much of which will be used for the Blikkiesdorp training‚ and the City of Cape Town has committed R1-million for fund a skills gap programme for 25 residents.

De Lille said graduates of the courses would build houses for themselves and residents of Freedom Farm and Malawi Camp informal settlements on land near the airport and along Symphony Way.

Acsa general manager Deon Cloete said apart from enabling the community to build their own homes‚ “the bigger picture is that individuals on the programme demonstrating potential will be further developed as entrepreneurs‚ enabling small business development and a vehicle of future employment for others”.