CoJ facing uphill battle to provide affordable rental, temp emergency accommodation for inner-city residents
Eyewitness News understands that in the inner city alone, an estimated 100,000 people require temporary emergency accommodation.
Johannesburg / Pixabay: mzgiaconte
JOHANNESBURG - The City of Johannesburg is facing an uphill battle in trying to provide affordable rental and temporary emergency accommodation for its residents within the inner city.
Eyewitness News understands that in the inner city alone, an estimated 100,000 people require temporary emergency accommodation.
Despite plans being approved to address the dire housing issue, the city has dragged its heels to implement the measures.
READ: City of Joburg preparing report to request additional funding for temporary housing
Siyabonga Mahlangu is the secretary general of the Inner-city Federation, a body assisting evictees and illegal occupants at hijacked and dilapidated buildings.
"The city doesn’t want to perform their constitutional duties in terms of giving people access to adequate housing. Instead, they want to displace people from the inner city and they want something that will benefit them as the people of Johannesburg."
He said the city should consider its own employees who live in the area.
"In some of the areas, that they say are dangerous places, their own employees are residing there in Jeppestown, Jules and Hillbrow, their own employees are residing in those places."