Seshego community rental units finally ready
The Seshego community rental units housing project was officially handed over to residents and the Polokwane Municipality by the provincial government on Tuesday.
POLOKWANE – The Seshego community rental units housing project was officially handed over to residents and the Polokwane Municipality by the provincial government on Tuesday.
The premier, Stanley Mathabatha said the journey to the completion of the project was not easy, given the challenges that were faced in the provision of houses due to an ever increasing demand and the rapid migration of people to cities.
Mathabatha also addressed the notorious history of hostels pre 1994 and said the replacement of the old Seshego hostel into community rental units was a triumph of the human spirit to restore the dignity of the people through the provision of quality housing infrastructure.
The Polokwane mayor, Thembi Nkadimeng said Polokwane experienced a population growth as a result of the influx of people from rural areas into the urban parts of the municipality.
“Polokwane is experiencing a growing number of backyard structures and informal settlements, which in turn result in squalour, unhygienic conditions and environmental degradation that could be compared to the hostel that was located on this very site we are on today,” Nkadimeng said.
In order to deal with this challenge, the municipality established the Polokwane Housing Association(PHA) to manage rental human settlements and cater for what is called the “gap market”.
This market is housing for people earning a combined monthly income that is too high to qualify for free housing from government, but too low to qualify for a bank bond.
The department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs (Coghsta) undertook to convert the former Seshego hostel under the Hostel Re-development Programme in 2007. The latter programme was phased out and replaced by community residential units which the department used to develop the 189 rental units. This was done to accelerate housing delivery by tapping in the rental market in particular low income category with an income of between R1 500 and R3 500.
The project comprises 176 double storey units, four units for people living with a disability and nine free standing units, collectively totaling 189 units.
The concept for the higher density double storey two bedroom units allows for sharing between two individual tenants or for family living. With this design, each unit gets a garden for urban agriculture and recreation.
Both the mayor and the premier mentioned that the project created a number of jobs.
During the construction phase, skills were transferred to 245 labourers who worked on the project. These included 144 men, 59 women, 40 young people and two people living with a disability.
The project cost the provincial government around R53 million to complete.
“We can proudly say the journey was worth it and we have every reason to celebrate this milestone,” Mathabatha said.
