The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lebogang Maile to provide a detailed account of where the R564 million for the construction and establishment of the City of Johannesburg’s Temporary Relocation Areas (TRAs) is coming from.
According to the ANC-led City of Johannesburg’s Covid-19 Response Plan they intend to construct and establish Temporary Relocation Areas (TRA) to de-densify the informal settlements as part of the City’s Covid-19 Response Plan.
It has been reported that the TRAs will be used as temporary relocation areas within densely populated informal settlements within Johannesburg namely, Alexandra, Zandspruit, Diepsloot and Soweto. The TRAs will be constructed and established in the following areas: Alexandra Extension 52, Madala Sports Field, Marlboro, Linksfield Development and Lufhereng Development.
The TRAs would cost the City R564 million for construction of the units over a period of six months including ablution facilities and common areas. The Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) and the Housing Development Agency have been appointed as the implementing agents for the construction of 3439 TRAs at Alexandra Extension 52,Madala Sports Field, Marlboro, and Linksfield Development using containers. The Lufhereng Development Company (LDC) has also been appointed to construct 2000 TRAs at Lufhereng Development.
The DA is concerned that this project is an unfunded mandate and there is no proper plan on how it will be implemented.
The report does not provide details on how the residents will be relocated to these TRAs. It also does not explain the process that will be followed to remove people and whether the housing waiting list will be used.
The DA calls on MEC Maile to provide details of the where money for this project is coming from. We will also be tabling questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain where the money is coming from, who are the beneficiaries of these TRAs and how these beneficiaries were selected.