The challenge faced by Assmang in providing accommodation for its employees at its new Khumani mine, in the Northern Cape, resulted in a new approach to housing development.
SACS Property Solutions, a provider of housing solutions in the affordable housing sector, and Erioloba Consulting, a specialist in the field of housing development for the mining sector, were jointly awarded with the Housing Project of the Year award at the Southern African Housing Foundation’s yearly international housing conference.
Khumani Housing Develop-ment, the award winning project, is part of a national drive to move away fprice of stone crusherrom the historical mining hostel and rental villages and to provide home ownership opportunities.
In 2005, Khumani approached Erioloba Consulting to facilitate a regional analysis of all the towns and cities surrounding the proposed mining operation.
Kathu, which is 20 km from the Khumani mine, was identified as the best ciron sand separator price south africaentre for the housing development. It is here that the Khumani Housing Development project, a 400-plus unit development, became a reality. The high-quality face brick units cater primarily for employees with a gross household income between R5 000 and R17 000.
SACS Solutions CEO Paul McHargerman make sand making equipmentdy says that, traditionally, mining companies provided housing facilities for their employees on mine-owned land in close proximity to the mining operations.
Mining companies are being urged to create economically and socially viable communities within towns and settlements close to mining operations.
McHardy says that as housing cannot be seen in isolation from the numerous other functions within the urban structure, the focus had to be placed on integrating people with existing settlements with the necessary social amenities and supporting infrastructure.
The success of the development also relied heavily on the ability of service providers to deal with the myriad of challenges facing the project. These included heavily indebted employees, high building costs linked both to the location of Kathu and its terrain and the legacy of applicants who were accustomed to ‘mine accom- modation’. These were overcome through the creation of unique housing and financial products.
McHardy says it became obvious at a very early stage that the overindebtedness of Assmang employees meant that many would be unable to become home owners unless they agreed to solutions that targeted the problem, coupled with specific programmes to empower them to implement these solutions.
SACS Property Solutions’ understanding of this specific client base, through ongoing surveys and market research, laid the foundation for the design of the financial solution. Five key solutions were implemented to significantly impact on the required monthly instalments, namely employer support, economies of scale, lower interest rates, behavioural change programmes and stepped payment options.