About 2 000 incomplete structures built by the City of Joburg in 2020 to the tune of R500 million in response to the Covid-19 outbreak remain unoccupied three years later and security guards had to be posted to prevent further vandalism and destruction of the properties.
The City was responding to calls from President Cyril Ramaphosa during Covid-19 that people living in overcrowded areas be relocated to new places to prevent overcrowding and the spread of pandemic.
City’s Human Settlements Executive Director Patric Poppy told Newsnote on Friday that when the project was underway they suspended it due to restrictions imposed by COVID-19.
“Three months into the project we realised COVID-19 restrictions won’t allow us to put people in those houses without water and sanitation. We then reverted back to completing those houses as RDP’s based on the specs that we were given by the national government,” he said.
“When the project started we had about R348 million in terms of infrastructure and we had allocated R242 million in terms of funding to build those houses. But it was not enough to cater for all the houses, between ourselves and province we had agreed to suspend the project until we get enough funding to get infrastructure,” he said.
Minister of Human Settlements Mamoloko Kubayi who unveiled 400 units in the area said she has allocated R2 billion to complete the unfinished Lufhereng project.
