Former dwellers on the Prasa central line have been moved to Stock Road, Phillipi. Image: @Rabbitking007/ X.
Cape Town: New services at Stock Road housing site
The former residents of the Cape Town central railway line have moved to a Stock Road site. The city has further provided new services.
Former dwellers on the Prasa central line have been moved to Stock Road, Phillipi. Image: @Rabbitking007/ X.
The City of Cape Town and Prasa have made some progress. The former residence of the Central Line railway have been provided essential services at their new living space in Stock Road, Phillipi.
CAPE TOWN RAILWAY CENTRAL LINE RESIDENCE MOVED TO STOCK ROAD, PHILLIPI
It’s been four years and the world is still facing the effects of the 2020 Covid pandemic. One of the results was thousands South Africans losing housing due to job loss. Hundreds of homeless Cape Town residents illegally build informal houses on one of the city’s main railway tracks.
Known as the central line, the homeless Cape Town residents build new homes that shut down the track between the Phillipi and Bonteheuwel train stations.
Over 800 families build informal houses on the Central Line. Image: @GroundUpnews/X.
“The City of Cape Town welcomes the site visit by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) at the Stock Road site. In December 2023, PRASA and its implementing agent, the Housing Development Agency, relocated Central Line occupiers to the Stock Road site that is currently zoned for transport use in terms of the City’s Development Management Scheme,” the city said.
“This land, adjacent to Heinz Park and bordering on Stock Road and the R300, belongs to PRASA. The City is providing essential services while we are awaiting the planning applications from PRASA and the HDA,” the Cape Town municipality added.
NEW SERVICES
The City has confirmed the installation of a combined 150 chemical and container toilets. Water tankers are provided three times a week.
“There are currently 856 structures at this site. The City as the independent land use regulator is following due process on PRASA’s pending land use applications for the Stock Road site in terms of the City’s Municipal Planning By-law, ” the City of Cape Town confirmed.
“In the interim, the City is assisting with basic services to those who have been relocated,” the note added. By the end of March there will be 150 container-only toilets in total. The toilets are serviced four times per week. In terms of water provision, water is currently being delivered via water tanker three days per week, with the 7 000 litre tanker making three to five trips per day.
“There are no existing bulk services on site for the provision of standpipes given that the land is currently not zoned for residential purposes; thus there is no alternative but to provide water with water tankers
waste is collected two to three times per week from the periphery of the settlement,” the Cape Town office concluded.
