Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Patricia de Lille, is pleased with the progress made at the Jeppestown Social Housing project in Johannesburg.
The Minister conducted an oversight visit to the project accompanied by officials from the Infrastructure South Africa office in the Presidency and the team from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA).
During Tuesday’s visit, de Lille explained that the project is an inner city building conversion and extension for the delivery of 95 social housing units with retail facilities on the ground floor.
The project started in March 2020 and was completed in July 2022 to the value of just over R33.7 million with R25.6 million of the overall contract amount contracted to SMMEs.
The project created 230 jobs with 227 of those jobs benefitting youth during the construction phase. So far, 50 units have been occupied.
“This inner city development is an affordable rental complex with rentals ranging between R626 to R4866 per month for the various units depending on size and specification. The development includes a mix of studio, 1 bedroom and 2-bedroom units in the building,” de Lille said.
The project was gazetted by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) as a Strategic Infrastructure Project (SIP) in July 2020.
This follows the inclusion of the project in the Infrastructure Investment Plan approved by Cabinet on 27 May 2020.
De Lille said the project was implemented by the GNI Social Housing Company which made an application to the SHRA for grant funding and were awarded the Consolidated Capital Grant.
In addition, 75% of the project was funded by the SHRA and 25% was funded by National Empowerment Fund through a combination of debt and equity funding.
“The development was marketed to the public and beneficiaries applied directly to the grant recipient’s property management resources. They were allocated units on a first-come-first-served basis according to the social housing income criteria (primary/secondary beneficiaries).
“The Jeppestown Social Housing Project demonstrates government’s efforts to redress apartheid spatial planning through well located human settlements and providing dignified housing in line with the Constitution of the Republic and the Social Housing Act 16 of 2008.
“The project is a prime example of infrastructure investment in action and speaks to the aims of the ERRP [Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan] through economic transformation, job creation, skills development, consolidating the social wage through reliable and quality basic services, spatial integration, human settlements, social cohesion and safe communities.
“The Infrastructure Investment Plan comprises 62 projects covering the water and sanitation, human settlements, digital, agriculture, transport and energy sectors,” de Lille said.
Changing lives
SAnews spoke to one of the first tenants at the development, Quintin Khambule, who said he is very happy to have a place of his own.
Khambule said he heard of the development a few months ago and immediately filled in forms to apply for one of the units.
“I’m staying with my family and the rental here is affordable,” Khambule said, adding that it is located close to his workplace.
“I don’t have to spend money on transport to work and I also do my shopping around here,” he said.
Jostina Ranwedi, a mother of two, told SAnews that she has been looking for a decent place to live with her kids.
Ranwedi had been renting a shack in Soweto where life was difficult, especially when it rained as water would seep into the shack.
“I’m happy with the new place, my kids are safe,” she said.
Since 2020, de Lille has been visiting various SIPs across the country to inspect progress as part of reporting progress on the Infrastructure Investment Plan to Cabinet. – SAnews.gov.za
