Mashaba unveils plan to ignite economic growth and address housing crisis by reclaiming hijacked and abandoned buildings
8 March 2024
ActionSA today unveiled our plan to ignite South Africa’s economic growth and address the country’s housing crisis by reclaiming hijacked and abandoned buildings and factories across the country. The plan builds on the work I did as the City of Johannesburg Mayor where, during my tenure as Mayor, the Council approved the release of 154 properties and 37 abandoned factories to the private sector for mixed-use development, including affordable accommodation and student housing.
When I launched the Inner-City Revitalisation Project in 2017, I had the vision of turning the city into a construction site. Had the 191 sites been fully developed, it would have resulted in an estimated R32 billion in new investment in the city, created an estimated 21,000 construction jobs, and approximately 14,500 affordable housing opportunities.
Unfortunately, after my resignation as Executive Mayor the project stalled under successive administrations. But today I want to commit that under an ActionSA government, we will roll out this programme across the country, igniting an unprecedented level of economic growth while providing affordable accommodation opportunities at a scale never seen before in our country.
I make this commitment today speaking at the Focus 1 Student Accommodation in the Johannesburg inner city – a building which I helped reclaim from hijackers as City of Johannesburg Mayor.