ActionSA has sounded the alarm over the shocking abandonment of the R97 million Tembisa Mega Housing Project, which has stood unfinished and neglected for nearly five years.
The joint initiative between the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements and the City of Ekurhuleni was meant to provide over 3,000 fully subsidized social housing units in Hospital View, Tembisa.
ActionSA Gauteng provincial chairperson, Funzi Ngobeni MPL, said what was meant to provide much-needed housing relief has instead become a wasteland. The four-story buildings now stand in ruins, stripped of roofs, doors, windows, and electrical sockets, turning the site into a war zone.
“With a backlog of over 1.3 million units in Gauteng, this project would have provided much-needed relief for accommodation to residents. Former Ekurhuleni MMC for Human Settlements Cllr Lesiba Mpya, had assured residents on 19 November 2020 that the project would be completed by June 2021. Instead, the 58ha site resembles an aftermath of a war zone currently, with the four-storey buildings having been stripped of roofs, doors, windows and electrical sockets.”
Ngobeni urged both the Department and the City to take immediate and decisive action to address the dire situation. He further called for consequence management against those who failed to fulfill their responsibilities.
He further stated that ActionSA has called for the introduction of a Public Budget Transparency Portal to monitor project implementation, allowing the public to access and track crucial information.
“These are just some of the reasons that have led ActionSA to call for the introduction of the Public Budget Transparency Portal to track projects’ implementation. This Portal would be accessible to all members of the public through their gadgets in real time, where the public will be able to check who is the contractor of the project, how much has been spent on it and how that project has benefited the intended beneficiaries,” said Ngobeni.
MMC for Human Settlements in the City of Ekurhuleni, Kgopelo Hollo, stated that he was aware of the delays in the Tembisa Mega Housing Project, which stem from a lack of funding to repair the damage caused by vandalism over two years ago and to complete the remaining work to allocate the units to deserving beneficiaries.
“Yes, I am aware of the state of the project. Some unknown people came in numbers two years ago and hijacked the project, at the same time also stole components of the project like windows, roofs, and electrical cables.”
He added that the project will resume as soon as the City receives the required R97 million in funding from the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlements, the same amount originally allocated to construct the project.
“The total money spent on the project is R97 million, and we need almost the same amount to complete it due to vandalism,” he said.
Head of Communication at the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, Tahir Sema, stated that the City of Ekurhuleni is responsible for responding to the implementation of the Hospital View housing project and its associated challenges. If the City requires additional funding, it must conduct a detailed assessment and submit it to the Department for consideration.
Ngobeni stated that ActionSA will persist in seeking answers regarding the delay of this project, both at the Gauteng Legislature and the Ekurhuleni Council, until the rightful beneficiaries are allocated their units.
The Star