By Nangamso Mabindla
11 May 2004

THE Mdantsane Urban Renewal Programme could learn much from the other national urban renewal projects, says Buffalo City municipality Director of Development Planning Craig Sam.

Representatives from the eight national urban renewal projects' met at the Mdantsane Sun Hotel in April to discuss the progress of the various programmes.

"The meeting was aimed at finding the way forward for the different projects. A team of directors, led by Yondela Silimela and Bernadette Leon, gave presentations on different focus areas," said Sam, who chose the Sun as a venue in order to showcase the changing face of Mdantsane.

Initiated by President Thabo Mbeki, the Integrated Sustainable Urban Renewal Programme aims to upgrade living conditions and improve economic development in eight urban townships across the country: Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain in the Western Cape, KwaMashu and Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal, Mdantsane and Motherwell in the Eastern Cape, Alexandra in Johannesburg, and Galeshewe in the Northern Cape.

Sam, who had seen progress in all projects, said he was particularly impressed with urban renewal in Alexandra. "Alex is very impressive and I commend Joburg for the improvements they have made. We can all learn from a success story like Alex," said Sam.

Sam was also impressed by the high attendance at the conference. "It showed the commitment we have in achieving our goal; to improve the state of these townships. We had representatives from all the eight urban renewal nodes," he said.

"We are honoured to be part of these urban renewals and we'll do everything in our power to make sure Mdantsane is a success," he concluded.

In Mdantsane visible progress was being made, Sam said, highlighting the development of the Chris Hani housing project in NU11, work on new streetlights and pavements at the Mount Ruth Station in NU3, and the completion of the Reeston housing project.