More than 13 years and R1.2bn later, one of Johannesburg’s biggest housing developments is still incomplete and the auditor-general (AG) wants to know why.
The City of Johannesburg’s Lehae Extension 1 housing project started in September 2009 with the aim of building 5,147 RDP houses.
The project was divided into two phases and the first one of 3,124 houses was completed in 2012, while the second phase [2,023 houses] could not be finished after the city ran out of money.
“In September 2009, City of Johannesburg Metro appointed an implementing agent for the Lehae development project, which was to be completed within three years. However, at the time of our site visit 13 years later [in October 2022], only 1,420 (70%) of the 2,023 planned houses had been completed and handed over to beneficiaries,” said auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke in her consolidated general report on local government audit outcomes 2021/22.
“The remaining 552 serviced stands and 51 houses that were still under construction were illegally occupied. The metro could not confirm whether the remaining houses had been completed and we could not get confirmation on whether and when the houses would be allocated to the 603 qualifying beneficiaries (from informal settlements such as Dlamini Camp, Mshenguville, Old Vista, Thembelihle, Kapok, Orlando Coal Yard and Eikenhoff), who have been waiting for their houses since the project began in 2010.
“Because the metro never finalised the memorandum of agreement with the implementing agent, project costs nearly doubled from the initial R636.8m to R1,21bn. We are busy assessing the matter as a possible material irregularity,” Maluleke said in the report.
AG spokesperson Harold Maloka said investigations were ongoing.
The city's department of human settlements spokesperson Bubu Xuba said: “The construction on the 603 RDP houses balance in Lehae Extension 1 stopped in 2017 when there was no budget. At that stage, 51 out of the 603 units were at wall-plate level and construction has not commenced on the remaining 552.
“The project costs escalated as there was a delay in the completion of the project, further worsened by the insufficient budget allocation between 2014-2017.
“The 603 qualifying beneficiaries will only be able to occupy their houses once the remedial work has been completed on incomplete units and also evictions having occurred. The city, together with the province, is working tirelessly to ensure that this project is completed and the rightful beneficiaries get their homes,” Xuba said.
She said there were a number of challenges that the department faced that led to the delay in the completion of this project, including funding, changes made in the specification of the houses to be built while contractors were on site.
“Various contractors experienced work stoppages by disgruntled communities due to service delivery protests and [there were] also delays in the certification of houses,” Xuba said.
She said after the AG’s visit, the provincial department of human settlements conducted a structural assessment on incomplete units across the region.
“The provincial human settlements department further initiated a procurement process for the appointment of a contractor for the remedial work. The procurement process is scheduled to be concluded by end of September 2023.
“In the meantime, a process to evict the illegal occupants has been initiated and attorneys have been instructed to deal with the matter,” said Xuba.
When Sowetan visited the area, some of the residents who illegally occupied the 51 houses said they moved in as the houses were standing incomplete and were harbouring criminals.
The houses stand out from the rest as some have corrugated iron roofs, with different doors from the ones installed by contractors, which also have solar geysers.
Petunia Raboya, who illegally occupies one of the houses, said she had applied for an RDP in 2009 and occupied the unit in 2018.
“We needed a home and we had been waiting patiently for nine years with no progress. When these houses were incomplete, they were being vandalised, so we decided to move in and complete the construction,” said Raboya.
“We could not watch these houses deteriorate when we needed a home for our three little girls.
“I spent over R50,000 to try to complete the house and we’re still not done. The house still had no roof, windows, doors or tiles.”
Another resident, Zama Nala, said she moved into a house in 2019 and has spent R120,000 to install a roof, doors and windows among other things.
“I applied for a house in 2004 and I have been waiting since. I don’t think the government realises how in need we are for shelter.
“There were attempts to evict us but the community came out in numbers to oppose it... I am nervous that one day they might succeed in evicting us but what choice do we have?”
Nomgcebelo Mxeba, who lives with three children, has been on the waiting list since 2004.
“We are desperate for houses and government is taking its time. These houses were falling apart when we found them and we had to use whatever pennies we had to make them decent,” she said.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
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