4 days ago
Joburg is refurbishing its hostels for R500m — Residents say it's a waste of money
A number of Johannesburg hostels are undergoing R500-million renovations, but critics say the upgrades are cosmetic and represent a step away from plans to transform the overcrowded hostels into family units, once framed as a transformative step towards improving the living standards and the dignity of residents.
Last week, Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Tasneem Motara and Johannesburg Human Settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso visited inner-city hostels to inspect a R500-million refurbishment programme. Johannesburg's hostels are dilapidated, overcrowded and often lack basic services.
Siyamthanda Nkabinde, who has lived at the George Goch Hostel in Benrose for more than a decade, told Daily Maverick: 'Prisoners and hostel dwellers are equal inmates. One is physically incarcerated and the other mentally imprisoned.'
Regarding the upgrades, he said: 'I don't think they know what they are doing.'
The Gauteng government has earmarked R500-million to upgrade the six hostels under its control, focusing on fixing the most immediate problems such as plumbing and electricity, replacing flooring, repairing building cracks, waterproofing the buildings and replacing paving.
According to some residents, however, no level of renovations can gloss over their long-lost dignity. They want the government to fulfil its longstanding commitment to transform the single-sex hostels into family units so they can live with their loved ones in a move away from the apartheid-era hostel system.
George Goch resident Mdumiseni Miya said the renovations were being used to hoodwink residents into thinking that their housing problems were coming to an end.
'We want family units, which guarantee safety, dignity and comfort for families. There is no point in tiling, painting or filling buildings which are falling apart,' Miya said. 'We know they are wasting money on the collapsing buildings so that they can be seen to be doing something ahead of the upcoming elections.'
Short-term plan
Renovations are already under way in five of the six hostels in Johannesburg under the control of the Gauteng government. Renovations on the sixth hostel will begin within two months, and the process of appointing a contractor has just been concluded. The project is expected to take three years.
Motara said the provincial government was undertaking the renovations to ensure that the hostels were habitable and had adequate living conditions.
She said the long-term goal was to convert the hostels into family units, but that would be 'expensive as it involves redesign, demolitions and replanning'.
'Here, we didn't have to do redesigns. We have had to deal with the actual design as it is, and this will save the cost,' Motara said.
The six hostels earmarked for renovation are George Goch, Jeppestown, Denver, MBA, Murray & Roberts, and LTA (Rethabile) hostels. Gauteng has a total of 65 hostels, but the other 59 are managed by municipalities.
Motara told Daily Maverick this week: 'The overall strategy in relation to hostels is to redevelop them into family/housing units. But the six owned by the province are not currently approved for redevelopment [into family units].
'Our current plan as the province is to renovate the six hostels we own as well as support the various cities across the province to at least renovate one per region that is owned by the municipalities,' Motara said.
Professor Marie Huchzermeyer, from Wits University's School of Architecture and Planning, said: 'The frustration for those on the waiting list for a family unit is understandable, given past promises. However, renovation, if carried out with integrity, can lead to immediate improvements in people's lives.'
Cost concerns
The DA has expressed alarm over the cost and questioned what work is being done.
'Simply, to go along, visit the place, and then say R500-million is going to be spent — as far as we are concerned, that is meaningless,' said the DA's shadow human settlements MEC Mervyn Cirota, who has questioned why the province is refurbishing the hostels rather than converting them to family units.
Cirota called on Motara to provide specific details for the R500-million plan.
'There has to be motivation, there has to be a plan, there has to be a timeline, there has to be a roll-out, and there has to be oversight so that we do not have the same scenario again. Promises keep being made, and no delivery.'
'Betrayal'
At 88 years old, Shalaza Mbatha is no stranger to the corridors of Denver Hostel. He's not just one of its oldest and longest-serving indunas, he is also a living archive of the hostel's history.
'It's not just disappointing, it's a betrayal of a conversation that's been going on for years,' Mbatha said of the move to refurbish the hostels rather than upgrade them to family units.
He did, however, note the challenges in building family units, saying that new structures should be built as converting the hostel in its current form could pose dangers to women and children.
'Some people are happy that the hostels are being renovated, but they are looking to continue staying with their families, which is why the family units are a necessity.
'The people must be built these family units after all these years of complete neglect of the hostels by the government,' he said. 'This way, everybody's dignity would be fully restored.'
Jeppestown Hostel resident Khulekani Sibiya asked Daily Maverick: 'Have you ever seen a hostel as rotten as the Jeppestown Hostel?
'When I am sleeping at night, I can see the sky because there is no roof above. We are living like pigs; even pigs live a better life. Hostel dwellers are on their own in this country.''
Municipal facilities
The bulk of hostels in Gauteng are managed by municipalities, with at least 13 falling under the City of Johannesburg.
In March 2025, Johannesburg housing MMC Mabaso said the City had earmarked R10-billion to fix its hostels.
When asked what would happen to the 59 hostels currently under the control of municipalities, Motara said the province was helping municipalities conduct assessments on the conditions at each facility.
'This provides the municipalities with an accurate state of the property. We are encouraging the municipalities to now budget for the work that needs to be done, or use the information to go to the next steps of addressing the current state of the properties,' Motara said.
'It is now the responsibility of the individual municipalities to action and implement the same. We will support the municipalities in so far as we are able to.'
The City of Johannesburg is conducting a detailed social survey of its hostels, which Huchzermeyer said was necessary to tailor redevelopment to the needs of residents.
'A tailored approach must be welcomed as more appropriate than the one-size-fits-all hostel-to-homes plans of the past, which also envisaged home ownership. These assumed every hostel dweller has a family and qualifies for a capital subsidy.
'A far more nuanced approach is needed that considers needs and affordability, and actively avoids displacing residents. From what I can gather, the City of Johannesburg is adopting this approach, whereas Gauteng's six hostels will be renovated until such time as budgets are available for redevelopment,' said Huchzermeyer.
The DA, meanwhile, has questioned whether Gauteng municipalities are able to implement hostel upgrades, given that plans have been derailed in the past. It is calling for the control of all of the province's hostels to be centralised under the provincial government.
'We are of the view that all hostels in Gauteng must fall under the [provincial] Hostel Redevelopment Plan,' Cirota told Daily Maverick.
'The municipalities are unable, unwilling and just do not have the capacity to fix the hostels. It's been many years.' DM
