Mashaba sees derelict buildings as housing fix
City to cut ties with firms paying security too little
If Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba had his way, all derelict buildings in the inner city would be expropriated and refurbished.
Mashaba, who delivered his second state of the city address yesterday, said the expropriation laws were a stumbling block.
He said the city’s 500 derelict buildings have the potential to provide “quality lowcost housing opportunities” for Johannesburg’s poor residents.
“There’s a number of buildings we are ready to expropriate tomorrow ... the constitutional framework states that once you expropriate, that building must belong to national government.”
Mashaba said the city has already embarked on a process aimed at refurbishing some of the rundown buildings.
“Late last year, we began the process of releasing derelict city-owned buildings for the purpose of developing quality low-cost housing for our residents,” he said.
Mashaba said 12 properties had already been released and developers were invited to come forward with proposals that met the city’s expectations. He said 71 other buildings would be released soon for development, in partnership with the private sector.
“We are also engaging with private owners of derelict buildings so that those buildings can also form part of our plans to turn the inner city into a construction site,” he said.
Mashaba also announced that the city would begin the process of “insourcing of security personnel” as it cut ties with security companies that had been underpaying them.
“Each security guard cost the city in the region of R14 000 per month, payable to the security companies citywide, to the tune of R600-million per annum,” he said.
Mashaba said, however, that most of these security guards were being paid “as little as R4 100 per month”.
He added that the city would also facilitate artisan training for 300 young people.