N2 Gateway

The N2 Gateway Housing Pilot Project is a large housebuilding project under construction in Cape Town, South Africa. It has been labelled by the national government's former Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as "the biggest housing project ever undertaken by any Government."[1] Even though it is a joint endeavour by the National Department of Housing, the provincial government of the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town, a private company, Thubelisha, has been outsourced to find contractors, manage, and implement the entire project. Thubelisha estimates that some 25,000 units will be constructed, about 70% of which will be allocated to shack-dwellers, and 30% to backyard dwellers on the municipal housing waiting lists. Delft, 40 km outside of Cape Town, is the main site of the Project.[2]

The N2 Gateway is a highly controversial project and has been criticised by the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, by the South African Auditor General, by popular organisations such as the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, by Constitutional Court experts such as Pierre De Vos and by affected residents themselves.

Its detractors claim that the N2 Gateway is a beautification project for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They cite government documents prioritising the development in light of its visibility near to the Cape Town Airport. They also cite the mass evictions that have taken place moving shackdwellers off the N2 corridor into Delft.[3][4][5][6]

The South African government has stated that 14,000 homes housing 70,000 people at a cost of R2 billion was delivered by 2015.[7]

  1. ^ "Media Briefing Remarks by Housing Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu on the Occasion of the 2006/2007 Budget Vote Statement". SA Government Website. 14 May 2006. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008.
  2. ^ "Report: Housing and Evictions at the N2 Gateway Project in Delft". Abahlali baseMjondolo. 8 May 2008.
  3. ^ "The Real Story Behind South Africa and the World Cup". F4B Magazine.
  4. ^ Newton, Caroline (2009). "The Reverse Side of the Medal: About the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the Beautification of the N2 in Cape Town". Urban Forum. 20: 93–108. doi:10.1007/s12132-009-9048-y. S2CID 56043934.
  5. ^ "UN affiliated COHRE letter to Mayor Dan Plato requesting a stop to Symphony Way evictions". COHRE. Archived from the original on 23 November 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Listen to the shack-dwellers". M&G. 24 June 2009.
  7. ^ "N2 Gateway project provides new homes". vukuzenzele.gov.za. Vuk'uzenzele. Retrieved 9 April 2020.