A Cape Flats community whose vandalism forced the City of Cape Town to abandon work on 2‚000 new homes has pledged to allow the work to go ahead peacefully.

Mayor Patricia de Lille and community leaders from Mfuleni‚ between Blue Downs and Khayelitsha‚ signed an agreement on Wednesday to revive the project.

De Lille hailed the deal as “a new chapter in a very long road that we have been walking”‚ adding: “We haven’t always walked at the same pace‚ or even in the same direction. But we have all kept walking and that is how we have met one another again here today.”

Community leader Nkokheli Ncambele said the agreement was “the start of trusting each other‚ working together in good faith‚ and building good relationships with the community and the city”.

Then conflict that halted work on the homes had its roots in a large fire in January 2013. The city council wanted to build new homes for displaced people in Mfuleni‚ and agreed to put up houses for locals at the same time.

“What ensued in 2015 was vandalism and complete chaos. The city lost R30 000 per day for two months while the developments were stalled‚” said De Lille.

The project was abandoned‚ but community leaders asked for talks with the council in 2016.

“This time‚ the city would only restart the projects‚ worth R80-million‚ on the condition that the Mfuleni community leaders would sign an agreement to say that we will not have violence again and to assist the city to protect the project‚” said De Lille.

Work on the homes is due to restart in August and take 15 months.