R230 million spent on unoccupied and vandalised hostels in Joburg

12 July 2016

Housing is one of the City of Johannesburg's most important responsibilities. However, the demand for housing is outpacing the City’s ability to provide it.

The official number of households in informal dwellings is around 16%. This means that nearly one in every five households in our City live in shacks.

In his End of Term Report, Mayor Parks Tau conceded that the ANC-run City lacks the ability to manage the increasing demand for housing with its available resources.

Through the Johannesburg City Council and the Gauteng Legislature, the DA has probed housing projects and requested several oversight visits, however, the replies have been vague and oversight visits cancelled. 

The lack of transparency begs the question, what is Mayor Parks Tau hiding? 

Take Soweto, for example.

According to answers provided by then MEC for Local Government and Housing, Ntombi Mekgwe:

Of 5966 beneficiaries set to benefit from the Meadowlands housing project, only 228 housing units were completed in the first phase of construction.

In Mzimhlophe, 1196 beneficiaries were meant to benefit from a housing development, yet only 84 units were completed.

Disgracefully, it took five years to complete the first phase of construction in these housing projects.

The MEC also failed to indicate a time-frame for completing the housing projects, stating that the second phase of development will commence when funds are available. 

Furthermore, they failed to provide any time-frame for the actual delivery of houses to beneficiaries.

An estimated R230 million has been invested into hostel project units in Meadowlands, Mzimhlophe, Dube, and Diepkloof, with little return on the investment.

No one has moved into any of the rental units that have now been standing empty for over four years and have been badly vandalised.

This is because the City did not have an extensive consultation process with the hostel dwellers and went ahead in building the hostels despite these communities being unable to afford the rentals.

In the meantime, the City has hired security officers to look after the vacant hostels and one is left asking how much has this cost the people of Joburg?

While the saga of missed deadlines and unfulfilled expectations continues, it is the people of Johannesburg who suffer.

We need to get back to first principles.

The key objectives arising from the City’s drive for sustainable human settlements is to address spatial inequality, and provide housing and related infrastructure.

This creates the conditions for economic growth, with a special focus on strengthening the middle and lower middle classes.

I believe that a home with access to basic services for everyone is non-negotiable. Equally, housing provides a wonderful opportunity for entrepreneurs and angel investors to play a role in building a city that everyone can call home.  

The City has failed to undo another crucial injustice of the apartheid regime - its spatial planning.

This planning resulted in people living far from their places of work, forcing them to spend hours commuting to economic centres to work and shop. 

Today, this legacy is still with us, and needs a fresh approach if we are to make our city open, liveable, and attractive for all to work and live in.

If elected mayor, I will do four major things to turn around Johannesburg’s housing crisis:

I will fast-track home ownership by giving thousands of people title deeds. This provides homeowners with an important economic asset to leverage. In the 2013/14 financial year the DA-run City of Cape Town delivered over 6151 title deeds, while the City of Johannesburg delivered zero.

I will stop housing list corruption. The process of selecting beneficiaries will be transparent, open and fair. The list will be available for anyone to see.

I will plan more housing developments, together with other departments and spheres of government, to ensure that recipients receive high quality homes, built by qualified contractors - homes that will last over time.

I will plan housing developments as close as possible to transport and education facilities, and economic hubs. This will help build an inclusive and integrated city and improve service delivery.

A huge part of the problem is the City’s failure to forge strong partnerships with property developers and entrepreneurs who may have solutions to the housing crisis. This is something I will address.

Outdated and complicated zoning practices need to be simplified and streamlined if we are to ensure a healthy pace of development.

A house is more than simply four walls and a roof - it is the basis for creating a home and a safe space to live. This need is universal, and dignified housing is a right that every South African should be able to realise.

I promise that my administration will provide housing that reflects this new thinking, and which proactively changes the face of housing in Johannesburg forever.

On 3 August, vote for change that will move our city forward.

Issued by Nkele Molapo, Media Officer, 12 July 2016