JDA urged to speed up land acqusition
ALEXANDRA - The Alex ANC youth league has urged the Joburg Development Agency to speed up the acquisition of land earmarked for housing development.
The Alex ANC youth league has urged the Joburg Development Agency to speed up the acquisition of land earmarked for housing development.
This after a recent unsuccessful illegal occupation of completed flats at Bothlabela Extension which had been vacant for many months.
The agency’s predecessor, the Alexandra Renewal Project, constructed many houses and flats which have not met the huge demand for housing, with some people entitled to allocations having to stay in transit camps for years. Also there has been ongoing allegations and discontent that some of the houses were allocated to undeserving people, while the rightful beneficiaries remain on the waiting list.
The city’s housing department is currently conducting an audit of some of the houses to determine the rightful owners.
Chairperson of a local branch of the league, Keith Maphutha, said while he acknowledged the desperation for housing, he condemned the invasions. He also urged the agency to allocate the flats speedily to those eligible, and requested that police be stationed at the flats to secure them.
“The allocation should be a matter of urgency and be done fairly to ensure that beneficiaries are drawn from all parts of Alexandra. Meanwhile, the development agency should acquire identified land for construction of more houses to avoid any further invasions,” he said.
Maphutha also urged the agency to make itself available to stakeholders and residents through workshops to inform them on its plans to speed up the implementation of outstanding projects.
“They [agency] need to draw residents into their confidence and also inform them of any new projects in the pipeline. Communities will only buy into the projects if their input is integrated into the agency’s planning processes, especially on local economic development for youths, which the renewal project neglected,” he added.
Maphutha said the agency had not yet shown any difference in operation from the renewal project, citing the recent pandemonium at Sankopano Community Centre where hundreds of prospective employees for the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit system had to be turned away because of disorganisation. The process had to be decentralised to other wards where applicants deposited their proof of residence and copies of identity documents, but no one was available to advise them on when to expect responses or what would happen to their documents.
