The Protea Glen development is currently one of the largest affordable residential developments in South Africa consisting of 26 500 completed houses, of which 20% are fully bonded using the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP) subsidy.

It was always the developer’s (Township Realtors) vision not only to develop affordable homes but develop a fully integrated sustainable environment and to create enough work opportunities for the population to enable the residents to live and work in the same environment. Now that vision is taking shape.

Protea Glen’s main developers in the area are Cosmopolitan Projects, Kiron Homes and Echo Lake Township Developers and the land developer is Township Realtors. All the streets are tarred with storm water structures and each stand is serviced with sewer, water and electricity.

A library, community hall and land for sports facilities has been added on land donated by the Township Realtors. Four parks (a private initiative assisted by City of Johannesburg) has been completed. A fully operational police station has also been built and a new fire station was completed in 2018.

The developers also constructed two bridges into Soweto to Protea North and Naledi Station to cope with increased foot and vehicle traffic in the area.

Four shopping centres

There are currently four completed shopping centres in Protea Glen namely the Protea Glen Mall, Sizwe Shopping Centre and two smaller shopping centres that include retailers Pick n Pay and Shoprite Checkers. There are also smaller business hubs, doctor’s rooms, clinics, pharmacies and four garages in this development. Plus an eye hospital and a dental hospital has been built. A new 130-bed private hospital is also planned to be built next to Protea Glen Mall.

The average household income of this area, according to a report conducted by Urban Econ in 2014, is R8 172 a month of which 62.9% of the people in the area have completed grade 12. Protea Glen is also considered as one of the safest areas in Gauteng, according to a study that included areas such as Sandton, Johannesburg, Alexandra, Sharpeville, Randburg and Tembisa.

Schools

Currently there are three high schools in Protea Glen. BASA private high school consists of 1 200 learners and is currently full and Protea Glen Secondary School that consists of 1 600 learners. In extension 29 Prestige College, another private school, was built in October 2017. Curro recently opened a new private primary and high school in Protea Glen in January 2019, which brings to three primary schools and two private primary schools in Protea Glen. Royal Schools are planning to build another private school in extension 20.

New residential developments in Protea Glen

Protea Glen extension 24 has recently been completed and construction of the new Taucal Eskom substation started on 2 February 2019.

An additional 5 800 houses are planned by Cosmopolitan Projects in Protea Glen Extensions 25, 36, 38, 39 and 40. Currently marketing is underway at Extension 40 and the construction of 463 houses is planned to start on 1 April 2019. As building commences on Extension 40, the servicing of 610 stands in Extension 39 will follow.

More than 10 000 high rise units are planned in Protea Glen Extension 23 by developer Afribiz Invest, which will be a mixed development with bonded and social housing. In addition to this project, plans are afoot to relocate 375 beneficiaries that currently live in the waterworks informal settlement. They will be relocated to a portion of Extension 23 where they will move into the social housing* units once completed.

* Social housing is an industry term related to zoning that refers to density of the development per hectare; social housing is specifically limited to a maximum of 40 dwellings per hectare.

Work opportunities

The magnitude of this residential development by the developers of SAARDA has created a huge need for work opportunities in the area, which has led to the development of two industrial areas: Protea Industrial Park and Protea Industrial Park West. This 479 hectares (ha) of industrial development is where work opportunities for local people will be created.

Located on the corner of the N12 national road and the R558, Protea Industrial Park (about 129ha) has been sold for the development of Masingita City. The first phase is a regional shopping centre of 85 000m² that will break ground in July 2019. This development will create an additional 45 000 temporary and 15 000 permanent work opportunities in the area and bring one of the largest shopping centres in the country to Protea Glen.

Also approved in Protea Glen is 350ha of industrial land, known as Protea Industrial Park West. This means that all industrial and commercial development (except chemical and noxious development) can be carried out here. The township has been approved, a bulk sewer line has been installed and runs directly through the site. Water has connection points at the corner of the N12 and R558 roads and at the garage site in Protea Industrial Park West Extension 3. The electricity line has been planned and two new substations will be built in the area – one in Protea Glen Extension 24 and one for the Protea Industrial Park West development. Protea Industrial Park West will be surrounded by more than 100 000 newly developed houses in Protea Glen, Lufhereng, Syferfontein and Soweto together with Lenasia and Eldorado Park to house 1.5 million residents.

The Development of Protea Industrial Park West will continue the current transformation of Soweto and surroundings from a dormitory suburb to a business hub.

On this land the Protea City Agri Processing Industrial Park and Fresh Produce Market is planned, which is a project that aims to address job creation and food security in the heart of Soweto. This R15-billion mega project that will create 50 000 jobs and enable inclusion of small scale emerging and commercial farmers and give them export opportunities to the US, EU and Russia.