New housing project launched in Rand West Municipality

The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements has launched a housing project in the Rand West Municipality that will yield 13‚000 units upon completion.

The project was launched by Gauteng Premier David Makhura‚ together with the province's human settlements MEC‚ Paul Mashatile‚ on Tuesday in Montrose in the West Rand. “We are supporting the premier’s vision [of] doing away with spatial-planning and small-scale developments [in favour of] mega-city projects. These projects will yield not less than 10‚000 units upon completion” said Mashatile.

Mashatile said the project would create hundreds of jobs for the community during construction. “The people of Montrose will be staying in their own new city with all the amenities‚ like a government precinct. People should not travel to Randfontein to get government services.

This project will yield more than 13‚000 units upon completion‚ which will include social housing‚ bonded houses‚ RDP walk-ups and military veterans’ houses‚” he said. Makhura said he was pleased to return to the municipality where he had delivered his first State of the Province address.

“This is a proof that we have not forgotten the people of Randfontein and the surrounding areas. We are here to launch the Montrose Mega-City project. We are [disproving] the notion that government has forgotten the people of Rand West Municipality‚” said Makhura.

The premier said that Rand West Municipality will have five mega-city projects out of 31. The next projects to be launched are the Western Mega and Dan Ntlhome projects‚ with a yield of 15‚000 – 20‚000 units each upon completion. “Gauteng government will spend R11-billion on developing the Montrose Mega-City project.

Our people should not wait forever for their houses. This development will include schools‚ clinics‚ churches‚ commercial developments‚ urban agriculture‚ et cetera‚” said Makhura.

He added that the government intends to revitalise the Rand West Municipality’s economy‚ which suffered a lot when mines and businesses closed down together. He said the material to build the Montrose project should come from businesspeople within the area.

“We are using a multi-faceted approach as government. Our developments should include education‚ health‚ police stations – and we will revitalise the railway line to ensure that people can move faster‚” Makhura said.

He said that since 1996‚ the Gauteng government has built 1.2-million houses‚ but there is still a backlog of 600‚000.