Seaview housing development set to be fast-tracked
12-05-2025
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The Herald
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Council approved buying of land more than a decade ago, but absence of bulk infrastructure has complicated matters
Nearly a decade after land was bought for the Seaview housing development, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is under pressure to fast-track bulk sanitation infrastructure and housing for hundreds of Zweledinga and New Rest informal settlement residents.
The residents are still using makeshift toilets amid stalled progress on a long-promised RDP project due to lack of bulk infrastructure for sanitation.
During a human settlements committee meeting on Friday, officials called for funds for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant to service the entire Seaview area, including existing formal structures.
Council approved buying the land for development more than a decade ago with plans to construct 641 RDP units.
The layout plan for the units was approved in 2022, valid for a period of five years.
A report by senior director for land planning and management Olwethu Pantswa, tabled on Friday, indicates there is an urgent need to begin construction of the low-cost houses.
“The municipality is under pressure to provide human settlements around Seaview, hence the acquisition of the land in question was endorsed by the council,” the report read.
“There are costs incurred in the development of the existing layout plan, which was approved in 2022 and is valid for the next five years in terms of approval conditions.
“There is an urgent need to provide the required infrastructure for this development to proceed.”
Before construction can begin, the city is required to adhere to the conditions of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) which dictates that bulk infrastructure must be installed for town planning purposes.
“Due to environmental studies, it was concluded that there is a need to provide basic infrastructure on site, as the current infrastructure capacity will not adequately cover the new development [or] human settlements development may not take place on the property,” Pantshwa’s report says.
The development will connect to the proposed Seaview bulk water supply scheme which is intended to augment water supply for the broader area.
There are no wastewater treatment works in the Seaview area.
“Existing communities use on-site sanitation for the formal developments. This largely consists of septic tanks, and for Zweledinga this mostly comprises home-built pit latrines, the majority of which are unhealthy and physically unsafe.
“The community have dug these toilets due to a lack of any other alternative services.
“Water is supplied to a few standpipes located throughout the informal settlement.
“In New Rest, communal chemical toilets are provided and serviced by municipal-appointed service providers.”
Human settlements executive director Tabiso Mfeya said when the land was bought, some processes towards developing it had already been done.
“The biggest issue in Seaview is that there is no wastewater treatment works, which means bulk infrastructure is a big problem.
“We’ve spoken a lot about the multidisciplinary teams which include engineers; as soon as we get them on board they will determine a possible solution to a large-scale development that doesn’t have a wastewater treatment plant.
“Whatever solution they come up with will be costed, so this item seeks to say let’s gradually budget for this exercise from the beginning of the next financial year so this is realised,” Mfeya said.
DA councillor Mxolisi Breakfast welcomed the report, adding the city needed to prioritise the development in the next financial year.
“As a city, we’re at risk because some of our [informal] settlements are in environmentally protected areas and we can’t afford a situation where we open ourselves to litigation by the department of economic development, environmental affairs and tourism (Dedeat) if we don’t relocate those families to permanent settlement areas.
“We need to be updated on the progress of this, even if it’s on a quarterly basis, and conduct an oversight visit to the area as a committee.”
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