Work begins with small contractors to help fix fire-affected rental units

15 April 2021

The City of Cape Town’s Public Housing Department, that offers affordable housing to about 228 000 residents, has officially started its new maintenance and repair initiative where small and medium-sized contractors will at first focus primarily on fixing units that have been affected by fire. Some 36 contractors have completed their training and are about to start work on the rental units.

• New R150 million partnerships to fix Council flats over the next three years
• City already spent more than R1 billion over the last two years to upgrade and maintain rental units

The City is committed to maintaining and upgrading its rental stock, comprising approximately 57 500 units. This is a R150 million partnership between the City and the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC). Due to the vast number of rental stock units, low levels of rental income collected and limited resources, there are repairs and maintenance service request backlogs. The City’s partnership with the NHFC will not only address these backlogs, but it will see the training and financing of small to medium-sized contractors and suppliers.

The contractors will at first focus primarily on units which have suffered fire damage. The contractors hope to complete the repairs to 216 fire-damaged units by mid-2021, if all goes according to plan. The units had been damaged due to petrol bomb attacks, and stoves being left on and unattended by tenants, among other things. The contractors have undergone training through a partnership with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC).

‘This initiative is an exciting one for the City and its tenants. It will be rolled out across the metro at our rental units, which are in need of repairs and maintenance. This will improve the living conditions of our tenants as well as give people in the community and surrounding areas the chance to change their lives through training opportunities. We thank the NHFC for partnering with us and look forward to the many rewards that this initiative can bring if we all stand together in our communities, work together to bring change and ensure that we collaborate and cooperate.

‘I hope that this project is just the start of a lasting legacy of empowerment, skills transfer, new opportunities and better lives for all involved. The City remains dedicated to the maintenance programme of our affordable public housing units and we’ve spent approximately R1 billion over the past two years in maintenance and upgrades. We are dependent on rental income to repair and maintain our public housing units and we encourage our tenants to pay what they can. We thank our tenants for their support and patience while this maintenance work is being done,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi.

’The NHFC is a Development Finance Institution (DFI) which delivers affordable housing finance solutions to qualifying households in the low-to-middle income market. As part of this project, the NHFC will deliver affordable rental housing initiatives to all those who have unfortunately been affected by fire. As the NHFC, we hold dear to us the needs, especially, of all who have been adversely affected by circumstances beyond their control. We are therefore grateful to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, for affording us this opportunity to lend a hand. What we are about is the delivery of affordable accommodation to those who can’t afford to obtain funding from the banks on their own,’ said Sizwe Tati, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the NHFC.

The NHFC is responsible for the appointment and management of the database of contractors and suppliers and to provide business and technical support to them. It is also mandated to train and appoint Project Steering Committees and Community Liaison Officers. The NHFC will continue to ensure that in all it does due process is followed.

For City public housing queries:
Telephone: 021 444 0333
WhatsApp: 063 299 9927
Email: MyEstate@capetown.gov.za

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office