The Alexandra Renewal Project is due to end but could be renewed as the City continues upgrading Old Alex.
THERE is a possibility that the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP), a programme to develop one of Johannesburg’s oldest townships, may be extended again.
A lot has been done to de-densify the township, says deputy director at the Alexandra Renewal Project, Neels Letter
According to Neels Letter, deputy director at ARP, there is still much to be done in terms of providing better housing and social infrastructure in Alexandra.
“We have done a lot to de-densify Alexandra, moving people from the flood line of the Juskei River to other areas in Johannesburg and new housing developments around the township. However, we haven’t touched Old Alexandra yet.”
The project comes to an end in June this year, the end of the City’s 2009/2010 financial year. But in term of its lifespan, it will end in March 2011, according to Letter.
Launched by former president Thabo Mbeki in February 2001, the ARP was to be implemented over seven years with an estimated budget of R1.3-billion. The amount was projected to be provided by the City of Johannesburg, Gauteng province and the private sector.
In April 2008, because of “huge demand for adequate shelter and prolonged land acquisition processes”, the project was extended for another two years by the then Gauteng MEC for housing, Nomvula Mokonyane, now Gauteng premier.
Even though the project was taking time, by the time it was extended a lot had been done to try and build decent houses for Alexandra residents.
History
When the project started in 2001, there were almost 90 000 housing structures in Greater Alexandra, including Old Alexandra and the relatively new areas like the East Bank, the Far East Bank, Marlboro Industrial, Wynberg, Kew and Marlboro Gardens.
The Pan Africa mall was officially opened in 2009 by President Jacob Zuma (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
Out of these housing structures, 6 000 were old bonded houses, 500 were new houses, 52 000 were backyard structures, 1 800 were hostel rooms, 1 490 were flats, 19 000 were public space shacks, 5 000 were factory sub-divisions, and 4 000 were formal units on the East Bank.
In the first phase of the ARP in 2001, 11 000 residents moved from the banks of the Juskei River, an area prone to floods. They were moved to Braamfischerville, in Soweto, and Diepsloot, north of Randburg.
When the ARP took off, its main aim was to de-densify Old Alexandra, which the project estimates has a gross density of 770 and net density of 450 structures per hectare.
The gross density refers to the number of households staying in areas zoned for housing and public space, while net density is the density that remains after all public space is discounted.
Building houses
During this first phase, which ended in 2004, several housing projects had been completed, including 880 houses in River Park, 181 houses in Extension 8, 1 400 units in Extension 7, 520 rented rooms on the East Bank, 52 RDP flats in Marlboro, 350 social housing units in Old Alexandra and 298 hostel rooms converted in Old Alexandra.
From 2005, the ARP undertook to build 9 500 RDP housing units, 5 700 affordable rental houses, 2 500 upgraded hostels, 2 850 social housing units and 950 bonded and credit linked houses to meet the original target of relocating 25 000 households from Old Alexandra.
“A total of 11 250 housing units, including RDP, mixed rental, social housing, have been built since the inception of the project and handed over to beneficiaries. There are currently 4 100 houses under construction at the moment,” says Letter.
The balance of close to14 000 households will be moved to places like Linbro Park and Modderfontein, but the ARP is yet to pitch for this land.
Joburg's executive mayor Amos Masondo opens the River Park Library in Alex
The M2 Hostel has so far yielded 298 rental units and 660 still have to be built. Work on the huge M1 Hostel has not yet begun but the ARP has started a process to design the hostel, according to Letter.
Building of 84 housing units which will be linked to the M1 Hostel will form the first phase of redeveloping the hostel and will form part of what Letter calls the M1 precinct.
Upgrading of Old Alexandra will take much longer than the 2008 two-year extension of the project but the environment in and around this area has improved tremendously since 2001, according to Letter.
Upgrades
“Housing, roads, parks, schools and clinics have all been improved and the water supply stabilised. We have also upgraded the sewer system.”
Despite the “visible” developments in Alexandra, some people feel there has been very few tangible changes in Alex, as the township is fondly called by residents.
Letter says people tend to forget how the township was 10 years ago. For example, a new reservoir was built in Linbro Park, a move that has greatly stabilised water supply in Alex.
“Alexandra was referred to as ‘Dark City’ because it had no electricity. Today we have managed to connect 32 000 households in the township with electricity. There was a huge pollution of the Juskei River because raw sewage flowed into the Juskei tributaries from shacks. The bulk sewer system has been upgraded.”
Unemployment has fallen, taking into account that the population of Alex is transient. Letter says a large number of Alex residents had a chance to be trained in various job fields and have been absorbed in labour markets.
“It’s difficult to measure employment levels in Alexandra because people move in and out of the township. What one can measure, however, is investment by the private sector in the area. We can count developments like Pan Africa and the Alex Plaza which are employing a large number of Alexandra residents.”
From 2001 to 2008, the ARP managed to pump in R1 965-million into developing Alex. Letter says this may sound like a lot of money, but is a mere R1 400 spent per person living in the township with an estimated population of over 350 000 people.
An RDP house costs R125 000, including all building materials, building bulk infrastructure and implementing social services. This cost is all a giveaway to people, according to Letter.
The main stumbling block to achieving the ARP’s goal to improve the lives of Alex residents is the level of vandalism that occurs in the township, decries Letter. He says some residents lack a sense of pride in their environment.
“The parks in the township have been hit most with decorative furniture and sculptures either being vandalised or stolen. At one park, a giant screen used for screening television programmes has disappeared.”
The new ARP director, Job Sithole, expresses his view on the ARP website quite strongly that for the ARP to have any long-term impact, Alex residents should be involved.
“Beneficiaries must have a stake, an incentive, instilling a sense of civic responsibility. For this to happen it is necessary to encourage social integration within newly established Alex communities so that peer pressure and good example can play a significant part in peacefully protecting the new infrastructure that is materially improving their living conditions.”
Despite these setbacks, Letter feels the project to develop Alex, whose population constitutes 10 percent of Johannesburg’s 3.5-million residents, is dear to the city.
“But we need to be realistic. To improve the lives of people, we must realise that it’s going to cost us. A lot of money needs to go into housing,” he says.
THE Inner City Charter Partnership Forum discussed progress in revitalising the inner city, with a specific focus on the residential sector and plans for bad buildings.
