The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate kicked off the co-design phase of its over R7,9 million Upper Elsieskraal River Liveable Urban Waterways (LUW) Project with a workshop held at the Bellville Civic Centre.
Residents and other interested stakeholders gathered at the Bellville Civic Centre on Saturday, 24 January 2026, for the City’s co-design workshop for the Upper Elsieskraal River LUW Project. This follows an initial meeting held in November 2024. During the first engagement, the LUW Programme and the Elsieskraal Project were introduced, outlining their purposes, objectives and early insights.
In this phase, stakeholders will work collaboratively with the project team to shape feasible design interventions for the river corridor. Attendees helped create conceptual designs to make the waterway more purposeful, natural, healthy, resilient and safe.
This initiative, led by the City of Cape Town’s Catchment, Stormwater and River Management Department, in collaboration with Lukhozi Consulting Engineers, Sustainable Futures ZA, and several other specialist teams, focuses on improving the health, functionality and community value of the Upper Elsieskraal River in the Salt River catchment.
The next steps
Following this workshop, there will be a final workshop with all stakeholders around mid-year to present the final concept designs.
‘Community engagement is a crucial step of this project and has been a great success thus far. There were some great takeaways made by residents and other interested parties who attended the co-design workshop. The Liveable Urban Waterway (LUW) Programme focuses on rehabilitating waterways across Cape Town, using water-sensitive design, nature-based solutions and green infrastructure. Six similar projects are being undertaken across the city,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation Councillor Zahid Badroodien.
Join the stakeholder database
To find out more about the workshops and to register as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP) please contact Lukhozi Consulting Engineers (workshop co-ordinators, on behalf of the City of Cape Town): Call 021 686 2550 or email n.ritsch@lukhozi.co.za
Background of the Elsieskraal River
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, forming 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.
