City of Joburg to remove backyard shacks

Speaking in a media briefing, Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Development Planning and Urban Management, Ros Greef said as part of the Sustainable Housing Urbanisation Plan (SHSUP) developed by the City in 2012, the City was trying to legitimise the informal rental market and stimulate the development of the property market.

Greeff said the City had a vision of homeowners having approved and affordable housing standards (NBR approved) plan when they build units in their backyards. The councillor said, “This will help in local economic empowerment… [enable] safe building materials, building contractors’ affordability and improve liveable urban environments with high levels of community and social infrastructure.”

Greeff stated that the rapid urbanisation facing the city required an immediate and long-term strategic response in terms of accommodating future residential growth across all income groups using various typologies in different locations across the city through specific institutional mechanisms. She said the project was a framework for guiding the delivery of future accommodation in response to urbanisation.

“It is premised on Joburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy (GDS) vision… in which human and economic development will not destroy the natural ecological carrying capacity of the cities, regions and interconnected global environment within which it occurs and will not destroy the wider capacity for all to endure,” she said.

Greeff added that in the current situation, the value of the old four-roomed houses and RDP houses is diminished by the existence of illegal buildings and shacks on the property, but she said with their new vision, the property value will increase with the erection of legal and approved buildings in a backyard.

Greef added that with the new vision, the owners will apply to the City for approval of the building plans, material, and health and safety requirements before they erect any structures on their properties. She said this alternative rental accommodation represents the fundamental component of the housing market in the city, with an estimated 320 800 informal dwellings within the city limits.

“There are hundreds of backyard dwellings in areas such as Diepsloot, Ivory Park and Alex. We want to manage, guide and direct what is already happening in these areas with a focus on safety, health and environment,” Greeff said.