Question NW1381 to the Minister of Human Settlements

Reply:

(a) Yes, plans have been put in place to formally house the residents of the Kya Sands Informal Settlement. Due to the dense nature of the informal settlement, there is not enough land surrounding the area to formalise the project in situ. As a result, it was proposed that the project be developed in conjunction with the Lion Park Project further north, near the Lanseria Airport. The concept envisaged was that the Nietgedacht Property on which the Lion Park Project would be located would be formalized first due to the fact that the density is lower and it is envisaged that some of the residents of Kya Sands will then be relocated to the Lion Park Project. The remaining Kya Sands informal settlements residents would be formalized in situ. It should be noted that because of the high housing demand, both projects would be developed as high density housing and as such incremental formalization is not possible.

(b) A total of 13 000 beneficiaries have been identified and the scope of the project was increased to include all the informal settlements on Malibongwe Drive, between Kya Sands and Lanseria. 8 000 beneficiaries will be accommodated at the Lion Park development and 5 000 beneficiaries will be accommodated at the Kya Sands site. Beneficiaries from Lanseria/Freeway, Lanseria/Lion Park, Lanseria/Selina Park, Sands/iNanda Holding 57, Houtkoppen, Plot 5 Riverbed and Malatje informal settlements will be accommodated at the two developments.

(c) The planning process is currently underway and indications are that the development will commence during 2019/2020 financial year.