Gauteng's decade-old refurbishment project bears no fruit for Joburg CBD

JOHANNESBURG - More than 200 housing units in the inner city are unoccupied and vandalised since a refurbishment project by the Gauteng government in the inner City of Joburg started over a decade ago.

One of the six hostels owned by the province has been under maintenance on a budget of half a billion rand. 

This week the MEC for Human Settlements, Tasneem Motara and Joburg MMC for the department Mlungisi Mabaso visited the hostels including George Goch, Jeppe and Denver to monitor this progress. 

The new hostel with single and double bedrooms is said to have been unoccupied for over thirteen years. 

It has overgrown grass, sewage leaks, broken windows and broken-down cupboards in the units.

Several old dusty cars with flat tyres are parked outside. 

Ward 65 councillor Nkosikhona Khanyile said the Department of Human Settlements is responsible. 

“I think there was an issue between the contractor and the department, and they were both in court and they resolved that issue.” 

He said even the courts have been unable to resolve the issue.

“In 2018, there was another contractor which was introduced, and it ran for only two years, and they also had the very same problem that the first contractor was having.” 

The department said it plans to resolve these issues and resume maintenance work by December.