The need for improved levels of security, the development of enclosed estates and the reliance of armed response and electric fencing have contributed to the polarisation of South African society claims Mark Teuchert, a director of Lazercor.
He was speaking at the launch of a new property development underway outside Somerset West in the Western Cape.
The development will be built on a piece of land that was once used as a stopping point for travellers trying to make their way up the old wagon road through the Hottentots Holland Kloof (now Sir Lowry’s Pass).
The area earmarked for development is to the east of Somerset West on the left-hand side of the N2 national road. Teuchert says that the development will recreate a haven for the people of the eastern Helderberg region and will provide a range of residential options, communal green spaces, waterways, a retail high street, offices and even light industrial zones.
Lazercor is part of a co-operative venture between Omnicron and Weihahn. Funding for the project is coming from Investec. The venture, known as Omwieco, plans to build a sustainable estate that provides excellent security but is able to create a completely mixed-use environment so that people will not need to venture outside the estate.
“Our challenge is to establish a secure space and, at the same time, stop the polarisation of all South Africans,” says Teuchert. “When we develop a property we should see it as loaning the land that belongs to our children. We have to be answerable to them for the way the land is used,” he says.
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