Housing development still key in Gauteng

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Johannesburg - The Gauteng Provincial Department will continue to prioritise the province’s urban and inner city renewal programmes.

“Additional amounts of R27 million in 2013/14; R28.4 million in 2014/15 and R29.8 million in 2015/16 are allocated for the inner city renewal and to strengthen operations in the department,” said Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe while tabling the provincial budget on Tuesday.

The province has allocated an additional amount of R37.8 million over the next three years for the Inner City Programme that aims to revitalise three cities such as Vereeniging, Germiston and Krugersdorp.

Nkomfe said a further amount of R47.3 million had been allocated over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to augment operational expenditure for this project.

Nkomfe also allocated R192 million over three years towards the Alexandra Renewal Project, which is among the Urban Renewal Programmes in the province. Currently, there are 450 units that have been planned for the Alexandra rental units at River Park.

Last week, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane announced that the provincial government had, to this end, acquired 45 land parcels for an upgrade, and would in the 2013/14 financial year allocate R240 million for the acquisition of 15 properties to be developed for low-income and affordable housing. - SAnews.gov.za