City of Joburg preparing report to request additional funding for temporary housing

JOHANNESBURG - The City of Johannesburg is preparing a comprehensive report to submit to the national Department of Human Settlements, requesting additional funding for temporary emergency accommodation.

This as dozens of legal battles between the city and the private sector continue to play out in court over “bad” and “hijacked” buildings within the inner city.

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Private landlords have very little recourse once their buildings are hijacked or illegally occupied, as an eviction order can only be granted by the courts if temporary emergency accommodation is provided by the city.

An estimated 100,000 people require temporary emergency accommodation within the inner City of Johannesburg.

The Gauteng Human Settlements Department and subsequently the City of Joburg are not allocated any amount from the national emergency housing fund.

Speaking to Eyewitness News, Joburg’s Human Settlements executive director, Patrick Phophi, said the city allocates a small portion of its own budget to temporary emergency accommodation, resulting in the programme being underfunded.

He said they were compiling a business plan to submit to national Human Settlements for additional budget.

“They requested for a business plan and a motivation that would indicate which precinct and how many buildings and how many people.”

There are about 188 bad and hijacked buildings within the inner city, 17 of which belong to the City of Johannesburg.