Although residents of Khutsong Hostel are living in terrible conditions, there are no plans to upgrade the facility.

This came to light when the Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Tasneem Motara, answered questions from the DA’s Shadow MEC for Human Settlements, Mervyn Cirota, in the provincial legislature recently.
The MEC indicated that Khutsong Hostel has been part of the priority projects since the 2020/21 financial year. Its prioritisation led to the department undertaking detailed planning for Khutsong Extension 8 land for the development of 10 000 units.

This planning work could, however, not be completed because the municipality delayed the township proclamation.

A professional resource team, ETL Engineers, was appointed to undertake detailed planning for the erection of the 10 000 units at about R80 000 each.

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No contractor was, however, appointed.

Motara denied claims that the department allocated R161m for Khutsong Hostel upgrades and said that there are currently no plans to relocate hostel residents to Khutsong Extension 8 as the project could not continue.

The department has been engaging with all municipalities, through IGR, on the issue of ensuring that they provide necessary maintenance and deliver services to their hostels.

Khutsong Hostel is owned by the Merafong Local Municipality, and it is the responsibility of the municipality to provide basic services.

There are also no plans to change the hostel into family units, as previously promised by the municipality.