Randfontein and Thembisa developments expose the stark consequences of stalled government infrastructure projects.
Gauteng is littered with incomplete and abandoned infrastructure projects that cost taxpayers millions of rands, revealing systemic failure in project management and oversight.
In Randfontein on the West Rand, the R11 billion Montrose Mega City housing project is a stark symbol of this collapse, with the abandoned site now a wasteland of stripped windows and bathtubs, crumbling walls and unstable staircases.
Launched in 2017 as a flagship intervention to address Gauteng’s housing backlog, Montrose was meant to deliver more than 10 500 housing units.
The province’s housing backlog exceeds 1.3 million units.
The project stalled after the contractor was reportedly liquidated, with about R46 million spent before construction stopped.
Contract termination and project halt
According to the Gauteng department of human settlements, the project was halted following the termination of its contract with SCM Developments, citing “financial difficulties”.
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The department had planned to build 5 600 housing units during the project’s first phase.
The project, launched by then premier David Makhura and then human settlements MEC and now deputy president Paul Mashatile, was meant to include housing for 174 military veterans.
Only a few veterans were reportedly given incomplete units.
The developer reportedly abandoned the site in 2018, citing lack of funds due to demands from construction mafia.
Decay in Thembisa mirrors Randfontein
Similar decay is unfolding in Thembisa, in Ekurhuleni, where the R97 million Tembisa Mega Housing Project has stood unfinished for nearly five years.
The joint initiative between the Gauteng department of human settlements and the City of Ekurhuleni was set to deliver subsidised social housing units.
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The four-storey buildings have been stripped of roofing, doors, windows and electrical fittings.
The site covers 58 hectares and was to have 3 159 RDP walkups and 351 social housing units.
This project, on which more than R371 million had been spent when the site was abandoned, was meant to benefit people living in the Winnie Mandela informal settlement in Thembisa.
Mounting costs of empty buildings
In April last year, it was revealed that the Gauteng government spends R34 million per month on renting private buildings, despite owning 41 vacant buildings in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
It reportedly spends over R34 million a month on security for the vacant buildings.
In 2024, a National Council of Provinces report revealed that over 45 multimillion-rand projects are incomplete in Gauteng.
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