Cape Town: The Water and Sanitation Directorate of the City of Cape Town kicked off the co-design phase. It is of over R7.9 million Upper Elsieskraal River Liveable Urban Waterways (LUW) Project with a workshop held at the Bellville Civic Centre.
Reportedly, the residents and other interested stakeholders have gathered at the Bellville Civic Centre on Saturday, January 24, 2026 for the co-design workshop by the City. This followed an initial meeting, which was held in November 2024.
During the first engagement, the LUW Programme and the Elsieskraal Project were introduced. It further outlined their purposes, objectives and early insights.
In this phase the stakeholders will work collaboratively with the project team. Together they will shape feasible design interventions for the river corridor. Attendees helped in creating conceptual designs to make the waterway more purposeful, natural, healthy, resilient and safe.
This initiative is led by the Catchment, Stormwater and River Management Department of the City of Cape Town in collaboration with Lukhozi Consulting Engineers, Sustainable Futures ZA and several other specialist teams. These focus mainly on improving the health, functionality and community value of the Upper Elsieskraal River in the Salt River catchment.
After conclusion of this workshop, there will be a final workshop that will include all stakeholders around mid-year to present the final concept designs.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien said that the community engagement is a crucial step of this project and has been a great success thus far. Also, there were some great takeaways made by the residents and other interested parties who attended the co-design workshop.
According to Badroodien, the Liveable Urban Waterway (LUW) programme focuses on rehabilitating waterways across the Cape Town. He said that they will transform it by using this water-sensitive design, nature-based solutions and green infrastructure. Six similar projects are being undertaken across the city, at present.
Notably, the Elsieskraal River originates in the Tygerberg Hills west of Durbanville. It passes through culverts beneath the N1 freeway beyond Voortrekker Road and the channel runs through a canal for approximately 13km from Parow to Pinelands.
The Elsieskraal River then joins the Vygekraal River just downstream of the N2 freeway near the Athlone Wastewater Treatment Works, that forms the Black River. About 4km further downstream, the Black River merges with the Liesbeek River to form the Salt River, which discharges into Table Bay about three kilometres downstream.