Soweto residents who have been on the 1996 and 1997 waiting list for state-subsidised houses are finally getting their homes thanks to the Lufhereng Housing Development, earmarked for completion by 2029.
“The Lufhereng Housing Development project with an estimated value of approximately R22.3 billion was prioritised as a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) due to the far-reaching impact it will have on poverty alleviation through job creation and vocational training, creating quality basic services and addressing social cohesion in a safe community,” Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) and Chairperson of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) Secretariat Patricia De Lille says.
De Lille says the main objective of the project is to address the housing waiting list of people living in informal settlements and backyard dwellings in the largest township in the country.
Plans for Lufhereng Housing Development
The project is being built as a multi-use and fully integrated housing development with a full range of housing, tenure, land-use and income-earners mix, that will also include infrastructure developments to help achieve social and economic development initiatives, says De Lille.
In addition, there are plans to construct:
- 7 750 social housing units;
- 6 750 fully bonded units;
- 18 educational facilities;
- 420 000m² of commercial development space;
- 216 000m² for parks, recreational sites, sport centres; and
- 940 000m² allocated for use in urban agriculture.
De Lille says, “To date the construction of 339 RDP houses and 863 FLISP units have been completed and transferred to their owners.”
Currently, 1 496 RDP; 190 FLISP; 407 social housing and 117 bonded units are under construction.
A recipient of an RDP house, Nontobeko Luthuli, 70, says the house will give her family dignity. “I am very happy to have finally received a house from the government after having waited such a long time. I will finally be able to give my children and grandchildren a dignified home,” says Luthuli.
The project, has created 7 244 jobs thus far, made up of 2 949 skilled artisan job opportunities and 4 750 unskilled job opportunities, says De Lille.
The project will also include 4 200 Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Program (FLISP) units.
The declaration of the project as a SIP was made by President Cyril Ramaphosa when he announced South Africa’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) in parliament last year. In 2020 the DPWI gazetted 62 projects as SIPS in the country.
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