The Gauteng provincial government intends to sell all its residential properties, including Premier David Makhura’s official residence.

Answering written questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Tuesday, Makhura said the decision was made following the completion of an audit by the Department of Infrastructure Development, which registered and valuated government’s fixed property.
 
The majority of these properties are occupied by public servants. Thirty-one properties will be disposed of at an online auction to take place towards the end of October.

Makhura said he was confident that this decision would not only save the provincial government money from maintenance, but also raise additional resources to fund the provincial government’s programme of transformation, modernisation and reindustrialisation (TMR) priorities, such as student bursaries and the roll-out of Tshepo 500 000 – an employment creation programme aimed at training, skilling and mentoring 500 000 young people by 2019.
 
“We will only keep the property portfolio and land assets which add value to serving delivery, infrastructure development and our overall TMR agenda,” said Makhura.
 
On the question whether government would install electricity at the Winnie Mandela informal settlement, Makhura said the electrification of informal settlements is a priority programme in all municipalities in Gauteng.
 
The departments of Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs are providing the necessary support by ensuring that the relevant national government departments and State-owned enterprises are drawn in.
 
Makhura said municipalities were responsible for identifying the areas and undertaking planning for the electrification programme, adding that where Eskom is responsible for the supply of electricity, the municipality works with Eskom to plan the roll-out.
 
“Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality prioritised the Winnie Mandela informal settlement for the provision of electricity as part of creating liveable settlements under the informal settlement reblocking programme,” he said.