The Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, recommitted R188 million to the City of Johannesburg so that houses can be developed in the inner city.
This is in addition to the R136.5 million the City has already committed to one of Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba’s most important projects.
“The economic revival of the inner city is a priority for this administration and is key to creating an inclusive and prosperous city for all our residents. We cannot hope to achieve this without appropriate and affordable housing for our residents, especially the poor,” Mashaba said after announcing the investment.
The City has a worrying 300 000 unit housing backlog and Mashaba has said provincial and national government’s support is needed to deal with it. “It is important to understand that housing remains a national and provincial competency in terms of the Constitution, and the City of Johannesburg is reliant on grants from national and provincial government in order to build houses for our people.”
Going forward, Mashaba said the City will now focus on the revision of its housing plan to make the necessary provision for this additional funding.
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