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Joburg has partnered with a national government programme getting young people to build houses for the elderly.
THE youth is building houses for the aged in Ivory Park, replacing old shacks with sustainable brick and mortar structures.
Joburg youth is building 76 houses for the aged in Ivory Park
The house-building project, part of YouthBuild 2010, will result in 76 houses being built over two weeks. The project is expected to end on 3 June.
The City of Johannesburg has partnered with the Gauteng department of housing and local government, National Youth Development Agency, national Department of Human Settlements, YouthBuild International, Construction CETA and National Homebuilders Registration Council to build the houses in wards 78 and 79 in Ivory Park.
"The project is part of the City's bid to upgrade certain areas by replacing shacks with houses," said Bubu Xuba, of the department of housing's communications department. "The houses we are building are mostly for senior citizens. The concept is: youth building for the elderly."
Each of the partners has a dedicated area in one of the two wards where they will be building houses, to make 76 houses in total.
The City of Johannesburg was there for its contribution on Thursday, 27 May, assisted by volunteers from the female-owned Ivory Park construction company, Sibongu'fika Construction. On the day, the team - mostly women - featured prominently along Freedom Drive in their yellow hard hats and blue overalls. Work started at 8am and ran until 2pm.
YouthBuild 2010 is an initiative of the Department of Human Settlements and is organised as part of a youth development programme aimed at mobilising volunteers to participate in accelerating the delivery of housing. It supports the government's 2030 housing vision to improve the condition of South African settlements.
Through this project, unemployed youth gain valuable technical skills and use the acquired skills to do community service and make a difference in their communities. "We have approximately 50 volunteers from Ivory Park who have different construction skills."
The number of houses being built - 76 - is symbolic of the Soweto uprising of 16 June 1976.
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