Cape Town - Building plans passed in the Western Cape between January and June 2022 increased by 33.2% in value compared with the same period last year.
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said this translated to a value of R17.8 billion and the province had surpassed Gauteng in value and percentage growth.
Deputy mayor and Mayco member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Eddie Andrews, provided statistics showing Khayelitsha was once again the top planning district in the metro.
A year ago, Khayelitsha was in second place on the City’s list with 3 078 approved building plans, behind the 3 425 plans attributed to the City’s northern district.
This year, Khayelitsha was shown to have submitted 1 884 residential building plans to the City between July 2021 and June 30, 2022. The statistics show a significant investment in residential properties in Khayelitsha.
While districts such as Helderberg, Blaauwberg, Table Bay, Northern and the Southern Suburbs top the list in terms of building work value, Khayelitsha has submitted the most plans for residential houses.
Regional account manager at Builders, Christoff Vlok, said the Western Cape’s increase in residential activity was thanks to private investment in the residential sector.
“The municipality continues to outperform other regions due to its ability to process building plans and complete building projects with little interruption,” he said.
Master Builders Association Western Cape senior vice-president, Mark Fugard, said the province’s residential market had also benefited from migration and semi-gration from other provinces.
However, he said many of their members have found themselves in an overly competitive environment due to insufficient market opportunities.
“The construction industry in the Western Cape requires an increase in investment from national and local government as well as continued support from the private sector to realise sustainable growth into the future.”
Asked what support the City gives to small businesses in the construction sector, Mayco member for Economic Growth James Vos said construction businesses primarily get involved in infrastructure projects through the City’s tendering processes.
He said the City’s track record in paying its suppliers within the stipulated time periods made it “an attractive entity to do work for”.
With regard to assisting small businesses, Vos said the City’s Enterprise and Investment Department works closely with its Supply Chain Management Department to ensure that tenders include adequate subcontracting clauses to allow smaller businesses to benefit from large infrastructure projects in the City.
Meanwhile, Statistics SA’s selected building statistics of the private sector as reported by municipalities across the country showed the value of buildings reported as completed in the monthly and annual surveys decreased by 42.4% from R97.2 million in 2019 to R56m in 2020.
Stats SA said decreases were reported for residential buildings, non-residential buildings and additions and alterations.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za