Landmark property transaction approved by Council to accommodate False Bay TVET College Campus in Bay View, Strandfontein

Yesterday, Thursday 11 June, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management  (EOAM) Alderman James Vos, together with Subcouncil Chairperson, Councillor Elton Jansen, and EOAM Portfolio Committee member Garin Cavanagh, visited the property in Bay View, Strandfontein which in future will be home to the False Bay TVET College.

At the recent meeting in May, Council approved the transfer of Erf 48076 in Mitchells Plain (Bay View, Strandfontein) to allow the False Bay TVET College to proceed with the construction and ultimate relocation of a portion of the False Bay campus to Strandfontein.

False Bay College, one of three public TVET Colleges, located in the Cape Town metropole serves the South Peninsula area as well as Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, one of the most economically disadvantaged urban communities in the City.

The False Bay TVET College received a grant of approximately R380 million from the National Department of Higher Education and Training in order to establish a state of the art TVET campus in Bay View, Strandfontein.

This results in the college being uniquely placed to respond to the challenge of youth unemployment by offering occupational and vocational training programmes, in scarce and critical skills that lead to employment.

 Alderman Vos addressed the Council and expressed his appreciation to everyone involved in the planning and execution of the legacy property transaction, facilitating the False Bay TVET College.

‘It is deeply reassuring for me, in this time of dire need for all spheres of government to pull together, and to acknowledge that this proposed sale demonstrates the benefit of inter-governmental cooperative governance.

‘From the City of Cape Town’s perspective, this proposed transfer will provide a significant opportunity for the City to support a strategic objective of the City’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP). We all have the same imperatives; to do all we can to help eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, grow the economy and cut unemployment through education, scarce/critical-skills training and innovation programmes. We therefore leverage City assets to drive economic growth and sustainable development. 

‘I have no doubt that the transfer represents a significant opportunity for the City to help redress the disadvantages of past discrimination, Apartheid Urban Spatial Planning and the historic lack of facilities and infrastructure in marginalised communities,’ said Alderman Vos.

This opportunity enjoys the support of the surrounding community. The Subcouncil chairperson, Councillor Elton Jansen, also expressed his excitement:

‘The False Bay TVET College project on ERF 48076 is indeed a benefit for the community at large.  It’s a project that we can be honoured to have on our own doorstep and it will definitely add value. The construction of the college will not just give opportunities to more than 5000 students from the Strandfontein, Mitchells Plain and surrounding communities but will also have an economic benefit to local contractors and unlock job opportunities for the unemployed in ward 43 and others.  I am excited about this project hence the reason why I supported it from day one.  I want to thank the Subcouncil 23 Councillors for unanimously supporting this project,’ said Councillor Jansen.