Property developers and entrepreneurs applauded the City of Johannesburg for its ambitious plans to turn the inner city around at their first ever inner city property conference held at Braamfontein on Wednesday, 10 October 2018.

The one-day conference was organised by TUHF, which has a large residential property portfolio in the inner city. The conference brought together property industry players from the public and private sectors, development agencies, listed property funds, property managers and brokers.

The conference created a platform for sharing thought leadership between various stakeholders including the City's representatives to activate growth and investment opportunities with the focus on affordable accommodations and rejuvenation of the inner city. 

TUHF CEO Paul Jackson said it was committed to the inner city development and it was looking forward to partnering with the City. “As business, we need to find a way to work together with government. None of us can run a successful business in an unsuccessful country. We need to go back to the basics," said Jackson.

Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Development Planning in the City of Johannesburg Cllr Reuben Masango said: “We're putting together a fast-tracking system for inner city developments. The City has committed to fast-tracking applications of projects linked to the rejuvenation of the inner city." 

“To date we have been greatly successful as many properties have been returned to their rightful owners. Hijacking kingpins have been arrested and successfully prosecuted and more buildings being are to be released for development," said MMC Masango. 

The City has released 71 properties for development so far to address the housing backlog in the Inner City. 

Lukhona Mnguni, a political commentator and researcher from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said it was time for the government to start thinking about developing new cities.

“We must imagine and start thinking about building new cities. We need new cities because there is already overcrowding in the cities. No new city has been built post 1994.This results in strain on the existing infrastructure as there is an influx of people moving to the cities. Developers should become part of this transformation agenda," said Mnguni.

Mnguni cautioned about any sort of major developments carried out both by government and private sector without being informed by in-depth research. “The City cannot force developers to do something without giving back incentives," said Mnguni.