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“Now I can live in safe, clean, affordable accommodation with my children,” said a happy Bonelwa Ngala after Mayor Mashaba handed over the keys to her two-bedroomed flat in Devland on Wednesday, 1 August 2018.
Mayor Mashaba handed over the keys to tenants at the Devland Social Housing Project also known as Bokamoso project situated along the Golden Highway Road in Devland Ext 23.
“While the housing backlog has rendered thousands of our residents to deplorable living conditions, the City continues to work tirelessly towards ensuring to effect positive change for our most indigent communities” the Mayor said.
The multimillion development of the Devland Social Housing project has resulted in 588 new family housing units with a total number of 33 one bedroom flats and 222 two bedroom flats. The project comes after the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) successfully completed Phase 1 of the development providing 255 units. Thirty seven (37) beneficiaries moved in while the remainder will move in by end September 2018. These tenants are from the surrounding areas of Wards 24 and 119.
“I lost my house in 2012 when I was retrenched and since then I have been renting backyard rooms in the area which was really difficult because I have children” said Ngala.
“Where I used to live was completely unsafe and the living conditions were extremely poor,” Ngala explained.
The Devland Social Housing Project provides affordable-rental residential housing to accommodate mixed-income households with a gross monthly income between R2500 to R7500. The Project is conveniently located along the Golden Highway corridor of Freedom, within the bonded- housing mix-development aimed at integrating mixed-income groups to achieve social, economic and spatial integration.
Tenants are screened through a Joshco application process and vetted according to set criteria. There was maximum stakeholder engagement and involvement through robust conversations between the City and the community throughout the project life.
Joshco has been active in developing new and improving existing affordable rental housing opportunities for residents of Joburg- placing strong emphasis on building sustainable communities.
