A recent fire at a building in Jeppestown has again brought to the fore the housing crisis in the inner city and the dangers of derelict buildings. JPOMA GM Angela Rivers, Solly Ramalamula owner of Take Shape Properties and Inner City Federation’s Siyabonga Mahlangu say the government is failing to provide housing, while the city is not prioritising the problem.
The commission of inquiry into the Usindiso building fire found that the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Property Company are partly responsible. Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association’s Angela Rivers says JPC should definitely be held accountable.
JPOMA GM Angela Rivers appeared on eNCA to discuss the effects of loadshedding on affordable housing in the inner city with millions spent on generators to keep lifts and water pumps working, that cannot be recovered from tenants.
South Africans have suffered the effects of extended bouts of load shedding over the holiday season, and as if that was not enough, Johannesburg landlords have had to contend with the threat of unlawful disconnections of what little power there is to their inner-city residential buildings, by a disorganised, inefficient City of Johannesburg (COJ).
So says Angela Rivers, the general manager of the Johannesburg property owners and Managers Association (JPOMA), which represents most landlords offering affordable housing in inner-city Johannesburg.
