The Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, misled residents when he promised to allocate R50 million towards upgrading hostels across the province. Gauteng hostel residents continue to live in appalling, inhumane, and unsanitary conditions, and there is nothing to show for the promised upgrades.
This was discovered during a recent official oversight inspection by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Human Settlements Committee at the Wolhuter and George Goch hostels in Jeppe.
See the photos here, here and here.
The infrastructure is dilapidated and decaying. Sewer leakages flowing all over the hostels and unpleasant stench, which is a health hazard.
The hostels are overcrowded, with more than six people sharing a room.
Despite construction work happening on-site at the hostels, there is an undertaking from Department of Human Settlements officials that there is little evidence of any remedial or maintenance work done.
Ten months into his position, the Premier appears to have forgotten his promise to address the inequalities and terrible living conditions for hostel residents.
Furthermore, there are newly built and unoccupied family units next to the hostels due to sewer challenges around the building.
The DA proposes that Premier Lesufi implement a comprehensive strategy to accelerate renovations and structural repairs of these hostels to prevent further decay.
The existing conditions are creating an environment of lawlessness and criminality. There is an informal settlement mushrooming close by, placing further pressure on an already overburdened infrastructure.
We also propose that the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements provide a comprehensive master plan indicating when, with strict timelines, and how they will spend the allocated R492 million on repairs and R400 million on infrastructure upgrading.
The DA will raise the above issues with the Human Settlements Committee, and we will also table questions to the Premier and the MEC for Human Settlements, Lebogang Maile. We will monitor the progress of the upgrades to ensure that the living conditions of hostel residents improve.