The City of Cape Town will next month issue a call to prospective investors and developers, or a consortium, to provide a solution to address the congestion the city is currently facing in the foreshore precinct.

The city will issue a document, the Prospectus for the Development of the Foreshore Freeway Precinct, which will provide interested parties with the necessary information about the city-owned land that will be made available to the private sector in return for the provision of road infrastructure and developments that will drive sustainable economic growth.

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille says it is vital to find a long-term solution to alleviate congestion in the city.

“The way the city imagines this is that we will leverage the city-owned land beneath the unfinished bridges for development and part of the conditions for the development will be that it include the funds to complete the unfinished bridges, alleviate congestion and provide affordable housing,” she notes.

The city has already committed R750-million over five years for various congestion relief projects across Cape Town.

“The residents of Cape Town will get the opportunity to be involved in this exciting project and we are looking forward to finding a partner from the private sector who will be able to provide us with an imaginative and creative solution,” she says.

She adds that the proposed bidders will decide whether the unfinished highways will remain, be demolished or redesigned.

She says that a pivotal requirement for those wanting to bid is that their development proposals provide housing opportunities for a diverse cross-section of income groups.

“By this, I mean that a percentage of this development must be earmarked for affordable housing opportunities to those beneficiaries and applicants who qualify for these opportunities in terms of the city’s policies.”

She says Cape Town is committed to redress and to providing residents from previously disadvantaged areas with access to housing opportunities and work opportunities within the Cape Town central business district.

“The development of the Foreshore Freeway Precinct provides us with an opportunity to address the legacy of apartheid spatial planning,” she states.