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 amongst those owned by the provincial government. It has been undergoing refurbishments that include the installation of WiFi, CCTV cameras and roof renovations. But Lesufi said more work still needed to be done to “restore the dignity of our people”.
One issue that still needed to be tackled was if hostels should remain single-sleeping units or be fitted for families, he said.
He said hostel refurbishments had been ongoing in parts of Johannesburg since 2023. The George Goch Hostel was 80% complete, he said.
“I believe our people deserve better. And if we claim to be a government and claim to be a public representative, we cannot leave people to stay in the conditions that people were staying in years ago,” Lesufi added.
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