Johannesburg Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba believes rejuvenation of the inner city infrastructure has potential to spur construction and other economic activities.
“Growth in employment opportunities can only come about in the City if we transform the inner city, which has long been neglected; both the inhabitants and building infrastructure,” said Mashaba.
According to the Executive Mayor the rejuvenation of the inner city is a key priority for the new administration.
“Last week, the City’s Council approved our plan for tackling the housing challenge within the city. The plan seeks to create safe, clean and connected communities with access to economic opportunities,” Mashaba said.
Mashaba said the council has made12 city-owned properties available for the purpose of creating quality low-income housing within the inner city.
“Through our plan, we are set to make the inner city housing market work better for the poor. Public-Private partnerships are crucial to our approach.”
On transport infrastructure the council plans address the longstanding R5.8-billion backlog in repairs and maintenance of road and transport infrastructure.
“Through our budget, we provided an operating budget of R1.1 billion in the 2017/18 financial year, and a three-year capital budget of R4 billion in funding to the City’s Road Agency, the Johannesburg Roads Agency.”
Mashaba is expected to shed more light on the council’s plans at African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit to be held end of October under the theme ‘Developing Future African Cities’.
Leading African cities that have been invited to showcase their major infrastructure and building projects and opportunities in October at African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit include: Abuja, Nigeria; Cape Town, South Africa; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; Lagos, Nigeria; Nairobi, Kenya; Harare, Zimbabwe and Kinshasa, DRC.