Construction of the Montrose Mega City began in November 2017, but the site was stripped by vandals after the project stalled in 2024.
Montrose Mega City housing project in the Rand West City Local Municipality, 21 July. Picture: The Citizen
A flagship housing development launched almost 10 years ago remains a vertical pile of bricks and broken promises.
The Montrose Mega City project began construction in Randfontein in November 2017, with the three phases earmarked to cost R11 billion over seven years.
Gauteng’s human settlements department confirmed the project was placed on hold in June 2024 due to the developer’s underperformance, after which vandals stripped the site of anything valuable.
‘Reduced to rubble’
The DA visited the site this week to highlight Gauteng’s housing crisis and the role the party believes the provincial administration played.
“Years of neglect, inaction and poor oversight by the Gauteng provincial government have allowed public infrastructure to deteriorate while the housing crisis deepens.
“[The project] promised to deliver an integrated, high-density, mixed-income city that would expand access to quality housing and economic opportunities.
“Nearly a decade later, that promise has been reduced to rubble,” DA Gauteng spokesperson for human settlements Evert Du Plessis stated.
What is left of the buildings has been stripped of doors, window frames and roofing, with collapsed staircases piled atop each other.
Additionally, water pipes and other support infrastructure are missing.
The DA stated it intends to table questions to the human settlements department to demand answers on the project’s expected completion.
“While they are regularly seen handing over title deeds across Gauteng, which is a welcome initiative given the housing backlog, questions have to be asked as to why they have not visited Montrose to witness firsthand the consequences of their neglect,” said DA Rand West Mayoral Candidate Jacques Julius.
‘No corruption or mismanagement’
The project was initially envisioned to incorporate 14 000 units and had the support of the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
In response to the DA’s site visit, the department confirmed less than 400 units had been partially completed.
The department stated that it was still working to secure more land for the project, as well as a new developer.
“Once these processes are concluded, a construction timeline will be confirmed and communicated,” the department stated on Wednesday.
Department of Human Settlements stressed that the halting of the project was down to the failures of the contractor, not department-related matters.
“To be clear on the facts: no corruption or mismanagement has been reported in relation to this project.
“Detailed expenditure on Montrose will be accounted through the ordinary audit and oversight processes that apply to all provincial projects,” the department stated.
Human settlements highlighted that in the last financial year, it delivered 7 237 new housing units, 474 serviced stands, registered 6 244 title deeds and relocated 518 families out of informal settlements.
