The Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) has long been in partnership with the City of Johannesburg to allocate and build affordable social housing throughout the city.
Read initial article here: MMC Meshack van Wyk launches Princess’ first social housing project
In November 2019, another project was officially added to JOSHCO’s portfolio when former Housing MMC, Meshack van Wyk, was joined by several councillors and entities to launch the construction of the first social housing project in Princess, with a promise of 333 units to be filled by residents (predominantly from the Princess area) with monthly incomes of between R1 500 and R15 000. Through the construction of these units, the City hoped it would assist their goal of integrating mixed-income groups. “The development of new, and the improvement of existing, affordable rental housing opportunities for the residents of Johannesburg are critical for driving our economy and stimulating the creation of much-needed jobs,” stated the former MMC.
At the time of the launch CoJ and JOSHCO were beaming with excitement and motivation; a positive attitude which spread to the people who had waited so long for low-cost housing in the area. ENZA Construction was appointed as the main contractor, to be working alongside local SMME’s (small, medium and micro enterprises) and EPWP (Expanded Public Works Programme) workers.
The timeline of less than one year caused a bit of scepticism among local residents, but they were hopeful that the entities would stick to the completion date of September 2020. Things seemed to be on track when construction officially began in January 2020, but two months later it was forced to a halt when the hard lockdown hit. When the teams were finally able to return to the site, the construction was delayed even further due to wage and work-package issues being expressed by the SMMEs and EPWP workers.
These issues seem to have been resolved as the teams are currently busy with the construction of a perimeter wall fence, setting up platforms and foundations, and civil works processes, but the numerous delays have pushed back the completion date to an estimated mid-2022.
