The City of Cape Town’s Community Services and Health Directorate is moving ahead with plans to upgrade and redevelop the Swartklip Sports Ground as part of the broader precinct, a report to Subcouncil 12 has confirmed.

The report was tabled at the Wolfgat Subcouncil meeting on Thursday 21 May.

It included an update on the planned Swartklip cemetery.

Two days earlier, proportional councillor George Paige tabled a motion for a request for a cemetery in Mitchells Plain at the Subcouncil 17 meeting on Monday 19 May.

He said the area was one of the fastest-growing communities in the City, with a population of approximately 310 000 in 2010 that has continued to grow.

“Mitchells Plain has become one of the fastest growing communities in Cape Town,” Paige wrote. “In 2010 Mitchells Plain had a population of 310 000 people, with its population’s growth the number of deaths are also increasing by the day.”

Of the 40 cemeteries serving the area, only 11 are still active — meaning 29 are full. Existing cemeteries in Maitland, Klip Road, and Delft are overcrowded, with residents facing problems around parking, available plots, and traffic congestion when travelling to burials outside the area.

Paige noted that poorer families are often forced to hire buses to transport mourners to cemeteries far from Mitchells Plain — a cost that a local facility would eliminate. The area has approximately 45 mainstream churches, not counting those based at schools and community halls, and church leaders have raised the issue with him on behalf of their congregations.

In his motion, Paige identified two possible sites for a cemetery: one next to the Strandfontein sports field on Spine Road, in the open space between Spine Road and Baden Powell Drive, and another opposite Westridge Mall on Jakes Gerwel Road, before the quarry on the way to Varkensvlei.

The subcouncil manager said a cemetery was already on the cards for the Swartklip area and advised councillors to coordinate their efforts with their sister subcouncil.

The proposed Swartklip Cemetery forms the southern portion of the precinct and is part of a broader push to address a pressing shortage of burial space in Mitchells Plain.

Proposed Swartklip Cemetery

Studies completed for the southern portion of the Swartklip site, where a cemetery is proposed, include a detailed land survey, geotechnical investigations, environmental studies, and civil engineering and stormwater management work. Environmental authorisation has been obtained, and a land use planning application has been submitted for evaluation and approval.

What happens next

The planning, development, and PMO department, working together with the recreation and parks department, plans to:

• Complete the necessary governance steps to secure an operational budget and appoint consultants to move the project forward.
• Carry out stakeholder engagements and statutory public participation processes.
• Prepare and submit the required development framework using a package of plans approach.
• Submit all relevant statutory applications required to obtain approval of the draft development framework.

Follow a phased implementation plan, including investing in certain short-term “seed projects”

Swartklip Sports Precinct

Other components of the precinct include a sports ground on the northern portion and a Swartklip Indoor Sports Centre at the centre of the site.

Although each of the three projects is being handled separately because of its complex nature, the relationship between them has been taken into account in a draft development framework that has been prepared.

What the planning exercise involves

The aim of the planning exercise is to work out whether it is practical to upgrade and develop the sports ground. This may include making better use of the existing sports facilities, as well as exploring opportunities to redevelop land that is no longer needed for the sports ground’s main purpose.

Portions of the land being considered for redevelopment could include mixed-use development on surplus areas, subject to the required statutory approvals and competitive processes where applicable.

This approach is in line with the City’s development intensification policy as set out in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), the Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), the Khayelitsha/Mitchells Plain/Greater Blue Downs District Spatial Development Framework (DSDF), and the Community Services and Health Directorate’s approved Optimisation and Redevelopment Programme.

The project will broadly follow a package of plans process as set out in the municipal planning by-law (2015).

Progress so far

A team of professional service providers was appointed by the planning, development, and PMO department to carry out a range of due diligence studies on the sports ground in 2025. The studies were aimed at identifying opportunities and constraints, and at providing evidence to guide future planning decisions.

The studies covered:

• Civil engineering – reviewing stormwater, water, and sanitation services on the site.
• Electrical engineering – assessing services on site and the surrounding supply area.
• Traffic engineering – looking at the sports ground’s geographic boundaries, existing facilities, and surrounding road networks.
• Geotechnical engineering – identifying potential ground-related constraints.
• Irrigation – reviewing existing infrastructure on the site.
• Town planning – evaluating the site, considering planning constraints, and compiling all the due diligence reports.
• Urban economics – assessing property market trends and identifying potential opportunities.
• Environmental screening – preparing a draft environmental screening report.

The results of these studies indicate that the site is suitable for development.

A draft development framework has been prepared and needs to be tested with professional service providers, with the aim of submitting a land use application to the relevant department for statutory approval.

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