Interviews and recommendation

Land Ownership Distribution of the Good Hope College Initiation Site

Following the development of the preliminary site designs, the team met with the Violence Protection Through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) official Alastair Graham, in order to learn more about the land that the team was recommending be included in the plans for the Good Hope Initiation Site. At this meeting the team was informed that a portion of the site which had been included in the initial designs is currently under the ownership of Denel. The team then met with Lungelo Nokwaza, manager of the Department of Social Development, to discuss the proposed design concepts and site size.

The team later met with Larry Cronje, a senior technician from the Department of Water and Sanitation in the township of Khayelitsha to discuss:

• The availability of a water supply at the Good Hope College Initiation Site
• The method and cost of attaining water from the bulk water line

Further analyses of the Good Hope College Initiation Site determined:

• The proposed location for gates
• The amount of fill that will be needed to create level ground on the Spine Road boundary so that a fence can be constructed
• Topographical features such as valleys, hills and points of high visibility to identify the optimally private location for showers and latrines

The team met with a Senior Professional Officer of City Parks, and Kirstenbosch Gardens personnel to discuss viable plants for screening purposes that could survive the wind, sand, and high water table that exists at the Good Hope Initiation Site.  Several shrubs that Kirstenbosch Gardens personnel have field-tested at a secondary school in Khayelitsha were recommended for use on site, and four were chosen for further analysis by the team.

Information was also obtained from city departments and private contractors for the preparation of specifications and prices for palisade fencing, tree planting, irrigation, and dropped curbing for vehicular entrance onto the site.

Site Specifications

Recommendation

Utilizing the information gained from the team’s methods, an 8,2 hectare site, which includes Denel owned land, was designed to be developed in two phases:

• Phase I consists of developing the site on a 3,8 hectare portion of land currently owned by the City of Cape Town, larger than the initial site request of 1,8 hectares, but still estimated to accommodate only x initates/year, based on Langa capacity.
• Phase II includes the land from phase I plus a portion of Denel’s land, if the City is able to lease or acquire it.  This will increase the size of the initiation site to the recommended size.

Construction of the initiation site proximate to Good Hope College in Khayelitsha is expected to commence in the months that follow our departure. We hope that the work done will lay a precedent for subsequent construction of other formal initiation sites.