Winterveld is located at the northern extremity of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, and is approximately 25km north of the Tshwane Central Business district. Winterveld was established as a proclaimed freehold township of Agricultural Holdings for black farmers during the 1940’s.
Forced removals in Pretoria resulted in many displaced communities settling on the Winterveldt Small Holdings as tenants. This resulted in the Winterveld becoming a large sprawling, high density informal settlement with very little infrastructure. No infrastructure was provided during the total history of Winterveld until 1987 when the Government created a special infrastructure development fund for Winterveld under the guardianship of the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA). The DBSA funding was largely used to provide bulk water supply to the ever-growing informal settlement.
The housing backlog in Winterveld is more than 30 000. The families in Winterveld have been residing there for more than 20 years and have chosen to remain in Winterveld. A Master Business Plan for the Greater Winterveld formulated by Maluleke Luthuli & Associates was adopted officially in 2001 by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as the Overall Business Plan for the redevelopment of the Winterveld. The City of Tshwane funded most pre-planning activities, professional fees and land purchase in Winterveld over the period 2001/2002 to 2006/2007.
The vision for the redevelopment of the Winterveld is the transformation of the existing settlements into a well-planned, self-sustaining and balanced suburb of Tshwane. This inter alia includes;
i) The eradication of the water and sanitation backlog and pit-latrines to combat disease and unhygienic conditions that negatively effect daily living through the introduction of appropriate and affordable municipal services.
ii) The reconstruction of the housing sector through the provision of affordable but high quality housing opportunities of a mixed spectrum; whereby the backlog of 30 000 houses is eradicated whilst the opportunity is also created for higher income families to construct bonded houses on their allocated stands.
The Winterveld will comprise some 20 000 stands when completely developed. The development of the Winterveld has been divided into eight phases. All town planning activities for the first two phases and infrastructure for 7034 stands in the first two phases has been completed. The next 4 Phases of Winterveld cannot commence until the upgrading of the existing outfall sewers that will service this area.
