The City of Cape Town (CoCT) has completed the construction of two new MyCiTi bus depots on the corner of Spine road and Mew way between Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain and is progressing with its Edward Avenue housing project in the Grassy Park area of Ottery.

The two MyCiTi 7.5-ha depots – which are equipped with automated bus cleaners, mechanical workshops, office space, refuelling facilities, and underground electric bus charging facilities – will both be able to store 145 buses that will travel the south-east route expansion.

The capacity for buses will, however, increase to 250 buses as the MyCiTi project is scaled up.

“The MyCiTi service expansion is one of the pillars of Cape Town’s record infrastructure investments, which amount to R40-billion over the next three years, with 75% directly benefitting lower-income households,” said City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who viewed the completed depots on October 23, alongside CoCT Urban Mobility MMC Councillor Rob Quintas.

“It is amazing to see the infrastructure rising before our eyes to bring safe, affordable and reliable public transport along new routes linking Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and communities across the Metro south-east. The expansion of the MyCiTi service routes comes at an overall investment of R10-billion, the biggest in metro-led public transport by any South African city,” noted Hill-Lewis.

“We are delighted that these completed depot projects also exceeded their local job and small business targets, creating employment for close to 500 locals in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, with 46 local subcontractors also working on the project,” Quintas added.

Meanwhile, the CoCT is progressing its Edward Avenue housing project, which will include 124 Breaking New Ground (BNG) housing units and is already hosting Housing Consumer Education sessions to educate qualifying beneficiaries on the responsibilities of BNG home ownership.

Beneficiaries of city housing projects are selected in accordance with the city’s Housing Allocation Policy and Housing Needs Register to ensure housing opportunities are made available in a fair and transparent manner that prevents queue jumping, and to those who qualify for housing in line with South African legislation.

To overcome challenges of criminality, extortion and gang violence, CoCT Human Settlements MMC Councillor Carl Pophaim stated that the city has rolled out additional interventions to reduce the risk of delays owing to these factors.

Some of the other construction projects that the CoCT will focus on in the future include bridge construction over Duynefontein and Govan Mbeki roads; Sky Circle construction at Govan Mbeki road (M9) and Jan Smuts drive (M17); and major upgrades to enable bus lane construction along Turfhall road and AZ Berman.