The Mpumalanga government is developing its first post-apartheid city, Nkosi City, which will be located close to the western border of Kruger National Park.
Construction on the R8 billion project is expected to start as early as June, with the city set to include RDP, social and bonded housing, as well as several urban farms.
Project developer Dovetail Properties said that on completion, the development will take the form of an ‘agricity’, with urban housing located among small-scale urban farming plots.
The farming projects are expected to create employment opportunities for unemployed people in the area, with an estimated 15 000 jobs expected to be created. Power to the new city will be partially supplied by a solar farm and a biomass renewable energy plant.
‘The city will not only be a central business district for the region, but also an agricultural hub of macadamias, citrus and cash crops, eventually totalling about 5 000 hectares,’ said Philip Kleijnhans, director of Dovetail Properties.
Nkosi City will include 3 471 houses and flats, 241 hectares of urban farms, nine pre-schools, three primary schools and two secondary schools, says the developer.
Picture: Dovetail Properties
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