‘Ineptitude of the City leaves thousands stranded’ – DA
JOBURG – A showdown is looming between the City of Joburg, Gauteng government and Democratic Alliance (DA) over the R64 million Alexandra renewal housing project at Bothlabelo, which was being delayed due to vandalism and outstanding repairs.
DA Gauteng spokesperson for Human Settlements, Mervyn Cirota, stated that thousands of Joburg residents on the housing waiting list remain stranded at alternative camp sites in Reyashoma and Alexandra due to the ineptitude of the City of Joburg’s officials. Cirota said, “A total of 232 social rental housing units were built in the north of Johannesburg to the tune of R64 million, and Gauteng Human Settlements MEC, Jacob Mamabolo, must urgently explain why they have been left unoccupied for three years.”
He said, according to the City of Joburg, these flats have been vandalised to such an extent that they will now have to be upgraded at further cost. Cirota said, “Access to housing is a basic human right as enshrined in our Constitution. The City of Joburg has continually failed to deliver on this mandate to have residents placed in housing units that are serviced, and uphold the dignity of the City’s most poor and vulnerable residents.”
He added that instead of leaving housing units empty and at risk of vandalism, the City needed to fast-track delivery to beneficiaries and monitor housing projects in order to prevent their decay.
However, the City stated that the occupants of these flats were Alexandra locals calling themselves ‘Accra and bona fide’ residents, among others, who applied for gap market housing accommodation – but they could not all qualify and so they resorted to invading the flats. City of Joburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said the City had to apply for a court order to have them removed.
“Following this, Accra decided to return to their previous homes in Alexandra to allow for the financial institutions’ process to approve their application for housing rentals.
”The financial restriction resulted in some of them lodging a protest by pitching up shacks on the pavement of the flats. Metro police were forced to enforce City bylaws to have them removed from their illegal positioning,” he said.
He said after numerous meetings they were relocated to Reyashoma settlement and after a review of their financial qualification for occupying Botlhabelo, resulted in 33 meeting the banks’ qualifying criteria. Modingoane said before the end of this year, the 33 will be provided with title deeds and the allocation of their units.
“The City is currently assisting in facilitating the process of clarifying the criteria for further allocation for [another] 232 housing units. To date, 12 Accra members have qualified and will be part of the 33 due to be issued with title deeds and occupation,” he said.
Modingoane added that a master plan for the area is being developed and people will be linked to the next proposed project in the area.
