Johannesburg's Shack City

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟯𝟭 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰. The City of Johannesburg (COJ) is building an informal settlement for displaced residents. With a 500 000 housing backlog, the city has repeatedly failed to deliver on its housing projects, leaving thousands of residents without adequate homes. Last year, when 77 people died in a massive blaze at the Usindiso building downtown, the city’s skewed priorities and lack of preparedness were exposed. Every municipality is required to provide temporary shelters for residents caught in a major disaster – but the COJ hadn’t made any arrangements. So, it built 300 one-room, paper-thin tin shacks at an eye-watering R4.2 million. But should shacks cost ratepayers millions of rands? Carte Blanche investigates. Find more exclusive content on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv