The City of Town owns approximately 50 000 rental units located across various areas of the metro.
Some units were built as early as the 1940s and have since then been a home to thousands of residents.
In recent upgrades to the rental units in Atlantis, the external facades of Island Place (Blocks A, B, C and D), and Dura Flats (Albatross and Babblers Blocks) were given a facelift with a fresh coat of paint, at a total cost of R9 million in this financial year.
This amount also took in City rental units in Hout Bay.
The roofs and external carpentry of the above-mentioned blocks were also upgraded and windows and doors were refurbished. The roofs of Blocks E, F and G were replaced.
“The City’s rental units are a vital part of the affordable residential accommodation continuum,” explained the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Assets and Facilities Management, Councillor Stuart Diamond. “The rental units are home to the poorest of the poor. These are rented units that are owned by the City.”
The contractor’s employment of 66 tenants from Island Place was aligned with the City’s Organisational Development and Transformation Plan (ODTP). One of the plan’s priorities is to ensure economic inclusion by creating community work opportunities.
A group of 48 residents was employed for phase one of the project. They were given the opportunity to put their painting skills to use and helped with giving the external facade of the blocks a welcome makeover.
A further group of 18 residents was employed to assist with phase two of the project which consisted of roof replacements in three of the blocks in Island Place.
“I must applaud the contractor for creating job opportunities for a group of tenants, albeit on a temporary basis,” Diamond said. “Bringing residents on board to be a part of the project will help to instil in them a sense of pride and belonging. On a daily basis they will be reminded of the role each of them played in uplifting their space.”
The proposed draft budget for 2018-’19 is R85 million for further upgrades and maintenance to Council rental stock.
“The extensive upgrades project forms part of the City’s Asset Management Plan to improve the condition of the City’s rental stock units,” added Diamond. “We also call on our tenants to work with us to maintain their units. While the City does all it can to maintain the external areas of the units, we ask our tenants to take care of the inside of their units as most of them already do.”
