PRASA plans large-scale housing project at Goodwood Station in Cape Town

by | Nov 14, 2023

Cape Independent news, Western Cape politics, Cape of Good Hope current affairs, conservative news South Africa, local autonomy Cape, decentralisation Western Cape, Cape conservative opinion, South Africa conservative media, Western Cape news, Cape Town politics, conservative Cape news, local governance Cape, Western Cape opinion articles, Cape autonomy movement, South Africa decentralisation news
The collaborative project, with the Social Housing authority and the City of Cape Town, aims to kill two birds with one stone by increasing rail use and gain income from rental properties

SHARE POST:

✅ Link Copied

The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA) is developing a new 1,055 unit social housing project at Goodwood Station worth R575m.

Social housing, administered by the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA), provides subsidised accommodation to citizens with monthly incomes of between R1,850 and R22,000.

The Goodwood development, led by PRASA’s investment arm Intersite, includes bachelor, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units, with completion expected in May 2024. The project is a collaborative effort between SHRA, the Infrastructure Fund, and the City of Cape Town.

PRASA plans further, similar developments near other transport nodes in the future, totalling R6bn. The national rail transport company owns a land portfolio of 4,500ha, valued at over R5bn, and aims to collect R1bn in revenue from it over the next three to five years.

Despite rising building costs and high interest rates, PRASA insists on the profitability of these housing projects, and their importance to balancing its notoriously overstretched budget. Prasa Group CEO Hishaam Emeran stated that Prasa will achieve 6%-7% of gross rental income annually during the development lease of the project.

The project, by placing housing closer to rail terminals, hopes also to make up for the massive collapse of passenger rail traffic in recent years due to a combination of mismanagement, poor security, union strikes, vandalism and metals theft.

Housing waiting lists in the Western Cape are long, with 599,855 people still waiting to receive housing, which is often hampered by land invasions on planned construction sites. Clearing this backlog is expected to cost R100bn.

The SHRA aims to achieve 30,000 social housing units by March 2024, also focusing on areas close to transport and economic hubs.

0 0 votes
Rate this article

Independent news and opinion from the Cape of Good Hope for readers who value good old common sense. We focus on what really matters in South Africa.

Article views: 15

Interested in joining the movement? Find ways to get involved

GET NOTIFIED FOR NEW CONTENT

read more

Choose CX, Greater Knysna, Knysna civic movement, local government accountability, municipal service delivery, Knysna municipality, community-led initiative, water supply issues Knysna, electricity outages Knysna, municipal governance South Africa, infrastructure maintenance, transparent procurement, local politics Knysna, civic activism South Africa, waste collection problems

Civic movement grows in Knysna with goal of stability and “no national ambitions”

Choose CX looks to bring stable, accountable self-governance to address Knysna’s ongoing service delivery and infrastructure failures.

AfriForum SANDF security, SANDF burglaries Gauteng, military base security South Africa, weapons theft SANDF, Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum community safety, military facility security breaches, South African military crime, strategic infrastructure security, organised crime South Africa, SANDF security assessment, military base vulnerabilities

AfriForum offers training to SANDF

AfriForum offers SANDF security assistance after burglaries, weapons thefts and repeated breaches at Gauteng military facilities.

South Africa China trade, China zero tariff policy, South African exports, South Africa trade agreement, China Africa trade, South African agriculture exports, South African mining exports, tariff free exports China, South Africa economy, China investment Africa

China opens temporary zero-tariff trade for 20 African countries

While China has opened a temporary zero tariff window for South Africa, trade with China is not always straightforward.

Western Cape has the worst rates of informal settlement in South Africa

Robert Duigan

Due to the DA’s policies since 2006, which incentivise land invasions with title deeds and free services, the City and province are both being overwhelmed

On Land Expropriation in South Africa

David Wilkinson

The ANC and its offshoots are driving land expropriation in South Africa. What should we do?

Plett residents race to save Robberg’s last lung

May 15th, 2026

Robberg Peninsula development, Plettenberg Bay development, Robberg ecological corridor, Ballywood Properties, Schalk Burger development, Garden Route National Park, Bitou Municipality, Plettenberg Bay environment, Whale Rock development, coastal ecosystem threat, Robberg Peninsula conservation, South Africa property development, ecological destruction Plettenberg Bay, water and sewerage concerns Bitou, environmental objections Robberg

Understand South Africa’s Oligarchy

May 15th, 2026

South Africa oligarchy, South African economy, economic concentration South Africa, political economy South Africa, wealth inequality South Africa, corporate power South Africa, oligarchs South Africa, state and business relations, concentrated wealth South Africa, South African elites, economic power structures, monopoly economy South Africa, South African capitalism, political influence business, institutional power South Africa