Residents of JJ Bosmanhuis social housing in Silverton remain uncertain about when they will have to vacate the building, with the Tshwane metro saying legal processes must be concluded before an evacuation date can be set.

The social housing building on Jasmyn Avenue in Silverton is over 70 years old, and has not undergone major renovations since 2008/09. It continues to face structural and maintenance challenges.

Because of this, it is decaying, with persistently leaking pipes, cracks in the walls, sewage spillages, leaking roofs, and faulty electrical boxes.

The metro said the building has been declared unfit for human habitation following inspections that identified serious structural, and health and safety risks.

Tshwane Mayoral spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi said the metro maintains that no final evacuation date has been set because residents, through their legal representatives, have challenged the process.

According to Mgobozi, assessments conducted by the metro’s Building Control Unit in the Economic Development and Spatial Planning Department found that the municipal housing facility no longer complies with the National Building Regulations and other health and safety standards.

He said inspections by various departments identified numerous concerns, including sewer infrastructure failures, water supply issues, electrical defects, inadequate fire safety measures, and environmental health risks.

“These findings led officials to conclude that the continued occupation of the building poses a significant risk to residents.”

Despite the metro’s findings, residents have criticised the municipality over what they describe as ‘years of poor maintenance and neglect of the property’.

They also claim they have requested meetings with the metro, which referred them to Housing Company Tshwane, which kept postponing the meetings.

As far back as 2016, new tenants who moved into the already dilapidated units found their lease agreements did not match the condition of the accommodation they were given.

They were then told the metro had no funds for repairs and were encouraged to fix their units at their own cost, with the promise that they would receive claim forms to recover their expenses or have their rental fees reduced as reimbursement.

The chairman of the housing committee at the flats, Mashudu Selokela, claimed tenants have withheld their rental payments because the metro failed to maintain the building. “In this flat, we do everything ourselves. We fix things on our own, and this flat was never renovated like the others,” he said.

Selokela said the matter is with their lawyers and proper feedback will be provided once available.

However, he said if the metro renovated and maintained the building in previous years, poor residents would not be forced to vacate.

He said the metro is to blame and should have addressed the non-compliance a long time ago.

The metro said its ability to maintain the property has been constrained by limited maintenance budgets and very low rental payment levels (7–8%), making it increasingly difficult to keep the building safe and habitable.

Mgobozi said the municipality remains committed to balancing the need to protect residents with the preservation of affordable housing in well-located areas.

“This multiparty coalition government remains committed to advancing spatial justice and spatial transformation by ensuring that residents have access to safe, dignified, and well-located housing opportunities,” he said.

While the metro intends to evacuate residents from the building, Mgobozi said no final evacuation date has been set because legal processes are still ongoing.

He explained that residents, through their legal representatives, have challenged aspects of the proposed evacuation process. In response, the municipality has appointed its own legal team to provide advice and ensure that all future actions comply with applicable legislation and constitutional obligations before an evacuation proceeds.

As part of the relocation plans, Mgobozi said elderly residents would be accommodated in self-sufficient facilities, while qualifying unemployed and low-income households would receive six months’ notice to secure alternative accommodation.

He also said residents would be provided with information on available housing opportunities during public participation engagements.

According to Mgobozi, relocation assistance will be provided in line with its Emergency Housing Policy.

“However, unlawful occupiers, households earning above the qualifying income threshold, previous housing subsidy beneficiaries, and property owners will not qualify for emergency accommodation assistance.”

Mgobozi said formal notices of non-compliance were issued in May 2024 after inspections confirmed that the building failed to meet statutory safety requirements.

“Since then, the city has undertaken tenant verification exercises and engaged residents on the inspection findings and the implications of remaining in the building.”

Mgobozi said the metro’s ability to undertake major refurbishment at the building had been significantly constrained by prolonged non-payment of rent by tenants.

He said rental income from municipal housing forms an important source of funding for maintenance and repairs, and that the sustained loss of revenue had severely limited the municipality’s capacity to carry out large-scale upgrades to the building.

Despite these challenges, Mgobozi said the metro has no intention of disposing of the property.

“Instead, once the evacuation process has been completed and funding becomes available, the municipality plans to refurbish JJ Bosmanhuis and return it to use as affordable and social housing.”

He said preserving well-located affordable housing remains central to the metro’s broader strategy of promoting spatial transformation by ensuring that residents have access to employment opportunities, public transport, and essential services, while living in safe and dignified accommodation.

Among the complaints raised by residents was that refuse at the building allegedly went uncollected for about three weeks, resulting in overflowing bins, illegal dumping, causing what they described as ‘a serious public health hazard’.

Residents said they were repeatedly informed that refuse collection vehicles were either unavailable or had been deployed to other areas, allegedly including Bronkhorstspruit.

Responding to the allegations, Mgobozi acknowledged that waste collection at the property had been interrupted, but said the disruption resulted from a communication breakdown between the city’s Waste Management Division and the Human Settlements Department.

“Once the matter was brought to the attention of the relevant departments, corrective measures were implemented and waste collection services were restored,” he said.

He added that refuse collection services at JJ Bosmanhuis are now fully up to date and that communication protocols between the departments have since been strengthened to prevent similar incidents from occurring in future.

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