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The Capital City Housing is a Section 21 Company, in terms of the Companies Act of 1973 Act No. 61 of 1973 as amended), with the aim of providing social housing products in the Msunduzi Municipal area. The company registration number is 1999/006572/08, and in terms of the registration, the company does not have share capital and does not distribute dividends. The NPO number of the Association is 031-615.

Pietermaritzburg is the second largest City in KwaZulu-Natal, and is the Capital of the province. It contributes approximately 20% of the province’s annual GDP, and boasts a diversified economy including manufacturing, agriculture, timber, and aluminum products. The economy of Pietermaritzburg is composed of a variety of medium to large industries that are focused on local and export markets.

Social housing was initially seen as the form of housing that would most appropriately address the variety of housing problems experienced in Pietermaritzburg.

The availability of institutional subsidies, combined with the availability of municipally owned land, would serve as a favorable mix for the delivery of subsidized rental housing in Pietermaritzburg.

With this in mind, the Pietermaritzburg Transitional Local Council (PMB-TLC) held a housing workshop for Councilors and relevant officials in August of 1997. The initial motivation was to explore subsidized rental housing as a way of speeding up and increasing the delivery of low cost housing within the TLC.

To assist the PMB-TLC in exploring the options for setting up a Housing Association, a technical advisor from the Social Housing Foundation (SHF) was seconded to the PMB-TLC for 6 months, between September 1997 and March 1998. In December 1997, the PMB-TLC agreed to sponsor its own Housing Association as a new housing delivery vehicle. A specialist Task Team, headed by the Mayor Clr. Gwala, was set up to facilitate the establishment of the new organization.

 

The Task team proposed the legal structure for the Housing Association, established an Interim Board of Management, and began the Business Planning and Project Feasibility process. From August 1997, the Housing Association received further assistance from the SHF for capacity building and skills transfer through a one-year secondment of a Technical Advisor from the UK.

The Capital City Housing was established as an independent, registered, Section 21 company in March 1999. The Association’s vision is that there shall be affordable, quality, integrated, housing for all within the Msunduzi Metropolitan area.

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