Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille, in her role as Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission secretariat, conducted an oversight visit to Unity House – a social housing project in Jeppestown, in the Johannesburg central business district, on August 30.

The Jeppestown social housing project – valued at about R33.7-million – is an inner-city building conversion and extension for the delivery of 95 social housing units, with retail facilities on the ground floor, and was completed in July.

The redevelopment of the original two-storey building into a five-storey building has resulted in an affordable rental complex with rentals ranging between R626 a month and R4 866 a month for various units depending on size and specification.

The development includes a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

Of the total, R25.6-million of the overall contract amount was contracted to small, medium-sized and microenterprises.

The project created 230 jobs during the construction phase with 227 of these benefitting youth, while 50 units are currently occupied.

The project was implemented by the GNI Social Housing Company and the Department of Human Settlement’s agency – the Social Housing Regulatory Authority. The Social Housing Regulatory Authority provided 75% of the funding, while the balance was funded by the National Empowerment Fund through a combination of debt and equity funding.

The development was marketed to the public and beneficiaries applied directly to the grant recipient’s property management resources, whereby tenants were allocated units on a first-come-first-serve basis according to the social housing income criteria.

The project was gazetted by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure as a Strategic Infrastructure Project (SIP) in July 2020, following the inclusion of the project in the Infrastructure Investment Plan approved by Cabinet on May 27, 2020.

De Lille has been visiting various SIPs across the country to assess their progress as part of reporting back on the progress of the Infrastructure Investment Plan to Cabinet.

“The project is a prime example of infrastructure investment in action and speaks to the aims of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan through economic transformation, job creation, skills development, consolidating the social wage through reliable and quality basic services, spatial integration, human settlements, social cohesion and safe communities,” she says.

“This project not only provides dignified, affordable and well-located housing to lower-income families, but has also provided economic opportunities for local businesses with businesses occupying the first floor of the development,” adds De Lille.

The local services and businesses on the ground level of the project include a crèche while the development also has a rooftop area with braai stands and a small synthetic grass recreation area.