Residents and community leaders in Alexandra continue to voice concerns over their potential benefits from the ongoing development of the nearby Frankenwald Estate, a site close to the Marlboro Gautrain station and Linbro Business Park.
The land, long owned by the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), was transferred to Bankenveld District City Development Company last year, according to Wits.
The university announced the site would be developed as a mixed‑use project with affordable housing. It said the project would comprise residential, commercial, light industrial, and educational opportunities.
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More importantly, the university said the developments in Frankenwald would benefit people from the surrounding areas.
This has repeatedly been mentioned by MMC for Development Planning Eunice Mgcina, who on multiple occasions told Alex News that people from Alexandra, particularly informal settlements the city intends to demolish, including Greenville and Council, would be relocated to Frankenwald as and when the time comes.
However, community leaders and residents from Alexandra have expressed scepticism about whether local people will meaningfully benefit. Some have cited concerns over housing affordability and pricing structures, and the lack of information about government-subsidised houses.
“It is unlikely that they [Alexandra residents] will be housed there because there are prices that have already been set for people to live in that space. But there have been several discussions that have been had that people of Alexandra must have a space to live there,” said community activist Thabo Mopasi.
He said they even made submissions to the Urban Development Framework (UDF) when Frankenwald Developments (Pty) Ltd sought to prepare the development framework for the site. Mopasi said they suggested that the Alexandra people must be housed on that property at lower rates.
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He added that at some point, they wanted to mobilise elderly residents to participate in marches, advocating for priority housing allocation and facilities such as a retirement village.
These are the same issues raised by other residents and community leader Linda Twala. A senior resident, Lele Abrahams, said they have fought for that land for over four decades. “That land belongs to the people of Alexandra, not for anybody else. People of Alexandra have no houses. We need to fight for that land. We have been fighting for it since the 1980s,” she said.
Additionally, Twala, who has consistently advocated for the comfortable retirement of the elderly, also stressed that Frankenwald belongs to the people of Alexandra, and they should benefit from that land, given the overcrowding in Alexandra.
He urged Alex residents to continue voicing their need for housing in Alexandra.
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