Lesufi: Upgrading all Gauteng hostels will bankrupt province

By Akani Nkuna

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has warned that refurbishing every hostel across the province would financially cripple Gauteng’s coffers, but said that government could ease the burden if one hostel was selected for refurbishment per corridor.

“We can pick one-one per corridor and check if we cannot at least improve them, but to take all of them, no, it is going to bankrupt the provincial government because the costs are humongous,” he said.  

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Lesufi was speaking to the media during a site visit to Johannesburg’s inner city George Goch Hostel, on Wednesday. The visit forms part of efforts to “restore dignity and improve living conditions” as part of government’s Hostel Revitalisation Programme.

The premier said that refurbishments included water and sewer reticulation and electricity, all of which would inflate the overall costs.

The George Goch Hostel is