Plans are afoot to restart the City of Cape Town's biggest housing project -- which stalled after extortion attempts and the murder of an official -- in the first quarter of next year.

The City of Cape Town plans to restart development on the Symphony Way housing project in Delft early next year following its halt because of extortion threats and the killing of a city employee.

This was revealed by senior officials of the City of Cape Town during an information session with Delft residents on Thursday evening.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis told residents that extortion attempts had affected two projects in Delft: a road rehabilitation project and a housing project for some of the area's most vulnerable residents.

The mayor led a delegation of senior political officials and municipal officials to Subcouncil 5, which includes six wards in Delft and Belhar and is bordered by the Cape Town International Airport and the R300 highway.

Symphony Way housing project

In his opening remarks, Hill-Lewis said: "Our biggest housing project in the entire city -- 3,000 units if I remember correctly, it's a massive project -- is currently no progress happening because of extortion."

The project has a budget of R500-million to build 3,300 units for beneficiaries of Blikkiesdorp, Malawi Camp and Freedom Farm, which are informal settlements that house some of the city's most vulnerable residents.

Work stopped at the project in <a...