Ask anyone you come across in Alexandra what the Alexandra Renewal Project has brought to the area and you are likely to be met with a shrug of the shoulders. The more vocal residents will tell you that the money allocated for the project has been “stolen”.

After an outbreak of protests in the area over the past two weeks in connection with inadequate housing, crime and poor service delivery, the spending and promised development that should have come with the project have come under the spotlight.

The Alexandra Renewal Project was aimed at changing the physical, economic and social environment of Alexandra and was billed as a joint urban regeneration project involving the local, provincial and national government as well as the private sector, non-government and community-based organisations. But since its launch in 2001, precious little appears to have been delivered.

On 9 April, Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba, who the community has demanded address them, but who is yet to do so, said he had received confirmation from his ace detective and the City’s head of forensics, Shadrack Sibiya, that he would launch a full forensic investigation into the project.

“Information has been brought to the multi-party government’s attention that the Alexandra Renewal Project, which was launched in 2001, served as a slush fund for the ANC, the City of Johannesburg under previous governments and the provincial government,” said Mashaba.

“ANC members were employed to drive the Alexandra Renewal Project in Alexandra. From the information we have received, their task was to direct funding to ANC-aligned companies that under-delivered on housing and channelled money back to the ANC,” he said.

“There can be no question that the R1.6-billion set aside by the national and provincial government for the Alexandra Renewal Project has been looted and used by the ANC as a tool for self-enrichment. This is precisely why the ANC, Premier (David) Makhura and President (Cyril) Ramaphosa are so desperate to place the grievances of the people of Alexandra at the door of the City of Johannesburg,” said Mashaba.

ANC Johannesburg spokesperson Jodilee Matongo denied the claim, saying that an investigation into the project was welcome as the matter needed to be put to rest.

Before Mashaba’s statement, Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced during a visit to the area, also on 9 April, that an audit would be done to track the money and establish accountability for its disappearance.

“The City should demonstrate how much money they put in the Alex renewal project; it must be accounted for,” said Makhura.

Makhura, who cut his activist teeth on the streets of the township, expressed shock at its current state, especially over the illegal structures snowballing across the township.

He disputed claims that former president Thabo Mbeki allocated funds for the Alexandra Renewal Project. Makhura said the money was allocated by the city of Johannesburg.

“This notion that former president Mbeki put billions of rands for the Alexandra Renewal Project is not true and has no fact,” said Makhura.

The people of Alex, as Alexandra is popularly known, believe the money was stolen.

“We don’t know, not even a cent of that money. I have been here for 60 years, but am still a tenant because of corruption. Houses have been given to foreign nationals. I’ve lost hope. That money was stolen, simple,” said 60-year-old Letiya Zungu.

Zungu’s neighbour and friend, 67-year-old Elizabeth Mabuza, expressed shock at the scale of corruption.

“I cannot tell you where that money went. It would have built many, many houses. We have far too many greedy people at the top, who want nothing to do with us except take our votes,” said Mabuza.

“At the rate they are going, they will end up stealing even stuff that is for free,” she said.

Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released a joint statement with the office of the Public Protector, announcing that they would combine efforts in a bid to get to the bottom of the service delivery complaints in the area.

The Public Protector’s office will tackle the maladministration aspects, including the allocation of resources by respective governments towards the delivery of quality public services in the township. The SAHRC will focus its investigation on human rights issues, including access to housing, water and sanitation, education, health and the environment with regard to the health and well-being of the people of Alexandra.

The organisations’ statement said the investigation would cut across the different spheres of government, looking into the acts and omissions of national, provincial and local administrations.

“In our experience, communities take to the streets when they are of the view that their cries have fallen on deaf ears,” Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said. DM