Alexandra container homes still empty four years after construction

These container homes, built in 2021 to ease overcrowding in Alexandra, Johannesburg, are still unoccupied. Photo: Silver Sibiya

Container homes, built in 2021 to ease overcrowding in Alexandra, Johannesburg, at the height of the covid pandemic, remain unoccupied. A year after unlawful occupiers were evicted for the second time, the complex’s hundreds of living spaces stand empty. And the City still cannot commit to a timeframe for when they will be allocated.

“The Department of Human Settlements is completing a few matters,” Mayor Dada Morero told GroundUp this week.

Officially a Transitional Relocation Area, the container units at Marlboro and 4th Avenue were never allocated to beneficiaries. They were left standing for so long that they became unlawfully occupied. The occupiers were evicted by court order in February 2024, and another set of occupiers evicted in September 2024.

A year later, Mayor Morero says the City is “in the final stages” of resolving outstanding issues before beneficiaries can be allocated.

He said containers set aside for Madala Hostel residents are close to being finalised.

Morero says it is “a matter of months” before the structures are occupied. The City says a list of beneficiaries exists.

Previously there were serious compliance issues with bulk service provision and safety, which was the reason given by the City for the failure to allocate the spaces to beneficiaries.

Questions sent on this to the City’s human settlements’ spokesperson Penwell Dlamini and other requests for clarification about the delay, the number of units available, and who will be prioritised to benefit have gone unanswered.

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