I am honoured to be the first employee of the Khayelitsha Community Trust, and I accept it as my responsibility to lead our team in ensuring that we implement the goals of the Trust. My experience and expertise in the field of public sector management, and several years of managerial experience in the public sector, enables me to steer the ship in the right direction.

I have the pleasure of working with a financial manager and an administrative secretary. Our primary responsibility is to ensure that we facilitate the development, implement policies and procedures that are in line with the Acts that govern municipal entities.

As the new entity on the block, we endeavour to develop work ethics, which will embrace the principles of empowerment and endear support – especially to the Khayelitsha residents who seek support in various aspects of economic and social development. As the workforce develops with the progress of the entity in its stages of development, we will develop an organisational culture, which will promote a sense of cohesion, and in so doing, encourage efficiency in achieving the set goals of the Trust in terms of our 5-year plan.

The Khayelitsha retail centre

Click here to download the Ground Plan

The Khayelitsha Centre is the first commercial development project, which the KCT completed in the Khayelitsha Central Business District (KBD).

Spanning a total area of 17 225m², the R86.5 million retail centre was officially opened by previous Mayor of Cape Town, Nomaindia Mfeketo, on 24 November 2005 with 51 retailers. Due to a high demand for trading space, however, the construction of an additional 2 000m² of retail space began immediately after the opening and was completed in June 2006 – bringing the total cost of the development to R110 million.

The Khayelitsha Mall boasts a wide variety of tenants and shops from where customers can purchase clothes, food and furniture, do their banking, and enjoy a meal at a restaurant – all at one convenient location! The lack of sufficient parking has become a frustration for shoppers, however, and plans are underway to increase parking facilities.

Owned by the Khayelitsha Community Trust (KCT), the retail centre was built with loan finance from Rand Merchant Bank, which must be repaid over a period of 18 years.

KBD Manco built and operates the KBD Retail and leases it from the Trust, who sourced finance from RMB in August 2004 and RMB appointed FutureGrowth Asset Management as the mall’s official developer and Facilities Managers of the Mall. FutureGrowth also handles the centre’s training and management related responsibilities. WBHO was the main building contractor in this turnkey development.

One of the funding conditions of this project was that at least 70% of the centre’s total occupancy must be by South African National tenants. Most of the trading space earmarked for national tenants has already been secured by Spar, Shoprite, and all four national banks (Nedbank, FNB, ABSA, and Standard Bank). The Khayelitsha Mall is currently running on an occupation level of 97%. Furthermore, Khayelitsha locals have shown great interest in terms of acquiring space in the centre, and specific marketing processes have been put in place to meet this demand.

The Khayelitsha Community Trust has been instrumental in terms of facilitating the direct involvement of local contractors and labourers. As many as 16 local construction companies worked alongside WBHO, the main contractor, in the construction process.

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Khayelitsha housing

The Khayelitsha housing development project comprises 1200 houses as phase one of the project – as well as the necessary infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water – which will be built over a number of years.

The Project includes the construction of a show village in the heart of Khayelitsha’s Central Business District (CBD), which will give prospective buyers the unique opportunity to select their future homes on a proportional model of the entire development. Furthermore, homebuyers will be able to walk around the rooms, look at the different finishes and select the layout of their choice.

There is, however, another unique feature of this housing development project. The bank, which will lend prospective buyers the required funds to purchase their houses, will not necessarily require the buyers to secure the loan by way of a mortgage bond. When a prospective buyer applies for finance, his or her income will be assessed, and a loan will be granted based on the individual’s income as opposed to his or her asset portfolio. This means that many people who were previously unable to qualify for a loan from a bank, will now be able to purchase a house in this housing development.

Please contact us for more information about the Khayelitsha housing development project.

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Service station

A specific site for the development of a service and filling station in the Khayelitsha Business District (KBD) has been earmarked adjacent to the taxi and bus terminus site in the JB.

The Khayelitsha Community Trust has entered into preliminary discussions with petroleum companies in order to gauge the viability of and interest for this development. In addition, a subdivision application has been submitted for this property, and further attention will be given to the project after the necessary approvals have been granted.

Relevant stakeholders have interviewed a number of local entrepreneurs for the management of such a facility. This initiative will form part of attracting business for the current tenants.

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