OVERVIEWConstruction and propertyA new construction programme offers skills training.SECTOR INSIGHTSECTOR INSIGHTGauteng has 700 informalsettlements.Students approve of the new training centre in Brakpan.Anew Community Construction programme has beenlaunched by Forge Academy & Labs, in partnership withmining company Sibanye-Stillwater, in Brakpan.Forge Academy & Labs has a strong focus on digitaltechnologies and courses being offered online, so the hands-onconstruction programme being presented at the precious metalrefinery of Sibanye-Stillwater presents a major departure for theeducation provider. Designed to cover all aspects of construction,the course will include components such as bricklaying, plumbingand electrical wiring.The new training centre was launched in February 2024 withtwo 12-month programmes offering certification courses inAmazon Web Services with Business Analysis, together with theCommunity Construction. Course graduates will earn a full SETAaccreditedqualification.A provincial government programme has been launched in thesame field, but this one is designed to give skills to unemployedpeople living in townships. The aim is to provide the skills that canbe applied to upgrade the quality of housing where people live.The “iCrush le Lova” programme aims to create qualified bricklayers,electricians and plumbers. A complementary programme willimprove and expand a database on township architects, hardwarestores, building suppliers and contractors, all professionalsand businesses that can work on the design and constructionof upgrades to township housing stock. A further group ofunemployed people will betrained to assist in compilingthe database. There are about700 informal settlementsin Gauteng, and there areprovincial plans to upgrade 68in the short term.The R300-million SA SMMECrisis Partnership Fund hasbeen launched. A collaborationbetween the ProvincialGovernment of Gauteng,the Industrial DevelopmentCorporation (IDC) and theSA SME Fund, it intends tomake financing available upto R1.5-million to SMMEs andto home owners wanting toupgrade their backyard rentalaccommodation.Six intermediaries havebeen identified to find andfund entrepreneurs and rentalproperties that need workingcapital or asset finance.Indlu Living, one of the sixcompanies, is already fundingrental property upgrades, withthe expectation that rentalincome will pay off the loan.An innovative schemeto build a new townshipin Gauteng is backed by aretirement fund. The TransportSector Retirement Fundis building an integratedsettlement in the SedibengDistrict Municipality south ofGAUTENG BUSINESS 202530PHOTO: Forge Academy & Labs
OVERVIEWConstitution Hill has been upgraded.Johannesburg. The R2.7-billion development includes a shoppingcentre and will include a mix of housing types.A large housing project south-east of Tshwane has beendesignated a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) which means that allof the external bulk services will be supplied by the Department ofPublic Works and Infrastructure. Balwin Properties will develop theresidential component of Mooikloof Mega City and the educational,commercial and filling station erven will be sold to a third party. Theintention is to build about 16 000 apartments, with the potential toincrease to 50 000. The property is on Garsfontein Drive.Another SIP is Malibongwe Ridge, a mixed-use developmentthat is a joint venture between the City of Johannesburg andthe Gauteng Department of Human Settlements. Located nextto Cosmos City, housing for 5 500 families is expected to costR2.55-billion to develop.New citiesBy 2030 Gauteng will have two huge new cities, socially diverse,digitally connected and ecologically responsible and sustainable.That’s if the Provincial Government of Gauteng brings to fruition itsplans for the west (Lanseria to Hartbeespoort Dam) and the south,where Vaal River City will stretch from Vereeniging to Sasolburg inthe Free State.In the 25 years since South Africa has been a democracy, morethan 1.2-million subsidised houses have been built by governmententities in Gauteng. Provincial government has pledged to release 10000 serviced stands as part of its Rapid Land Release programme andONLINE RESOURCESConstruction Industry Development Board: www.cidb.org.zaGauteng Partnership Fund: www.gpf.co.zaGreen Building Council SA: www.gbcsa.org.zaJohannesburg Development Agency: www.jda.org.zait intends finishing incompletehousing projects in Alexandra,Evaton, Kliptown, Bekkersdaland Winterveldt.Bodies such as the NationalHousing Finance Corporation,Indlu and Umastandi (socialcapital entrepreneurs) are workingwith provincial authorities tofind ways to formalise andmonetise the township marketso that sustainable incomes canbe generated and affordablehousing and rental stock becomemore readily available.The Gauteng PartnershipFund (GPF) has attracted morethan R3.5-billion in privatesector funding for affordablehousing in the province since2012. The Brickfields housingand rental development inNewton was funded by theGPF and implemented bythe Johannesburg HousingCompany (JHC) as one of the firstinner-city rejuvenation projects.JHC is a leader in converting badbuildings to usable rental space.Johannesburg DevelopmentAgency (JDA) projects range fromthe upgrading of ConstitutionHill, the Faraday Station precinct,work on the Fashion Districtand pavements of the inner city,renovation of the Drill Hall andthe Newtown upgrade.Private developer IndluplaceProperties has purchased ninelarge apartment blocks, takingits total buildings in centralJohannesburg CBD, Berea andHillbrow to 23: 33% of the unitsare bachelor pads and 22% aretwo-bedroomed flats. ■PHOTO: Joburg Tourism Company31GAUTENG BUSINESS 2025
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