Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Patricia de Lille, says she is satisfied with the progress registered in the N2 Nodal Development.
The N2 Nodal Development project is an integrated mixed-use catalytic project located along the N2 in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.
It comprises various property portions located around the super-regional Baywest Mall on the N2 National Freeway.
The total scope within the node incorporates some 12 100 new housing opportunities, together with over 500 000m² retail, commercial, office and industrial facilities, as well as the full spectrum of community and social facilities.
“The project is exciting in that it will bring different housing typologies together and build integrated developments where people in various income streams can live in a well-located development close to transport arterials and economic development.
“I commend the teams for their work and urge them to continue working with urgency to ensure the successful implementation of this project for the people of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality,” De Lille said on Tuesday.
The Minister conducted an oversight visit to the project as part of her duties to monitor progress of the 62 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs), which were gazetted as part of the Infrastructure Investment Plan approved by Cabinet on 27 May 2020.
The N2 Nodal Development project is one of the 62 gazetted SIPs.
De Lille stressed the importance of this project for the region, and the key role it can play in achieving the goals of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) to grow the economy and create much needed jobs.
“The development within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) includes both public sector and private sector developments within the node.”
She said the N2 node is identified and approved as a strategic development area for social and economic upliftment of the region and surrounding communities.
“The N2 Nodal Development project is one of the city’s Catalytic Land Development projects for focused and targeted developments, as part of National Treasury’s City Support Programme.
“Furthermore, the project forms part of the Baywest Corridor Priority Human Settlement and Housing Development Area (PHSHDA) and is gazetted as a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP 24e),” De Lille said.
Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said the N2 nodal project is a “uniquely diverse and well-structured infrastructure project”.
“Catalytic projects such as the N2 nodal development are of strategic importance because they have the potential to transform the spatial and social landscape of the local area, and help stimulate the local economy,” Gungubele said.
The N2 nodal development is a fully integrated mixed-use development, with strong economic and social development components centred on the already established Baywest Mall, which was completed in 2015.
The housing beneficiary profile for the project is broad and diverse, including, but not limited to, fully and partially subsidised housing for underprivileged beneficiaries; the lower earnings affordable market for both ownership and rental housing solutions, through to middle and upper middle market homebuyers.
Additional beneficiaries include the multitude of jobs created over a variety of skills and earnings levels, as well as potential new business and enterprise development during both implementation and operational life cycles.
The total calculated capital investment of R19.7 billion could generate approximately R51.1 billion in additional business sales throughout the Eastern Cape provincial economy.
Source: South African Government News Agency