GAUTENG, CLAYVILLE - What was supposed to give hundreds of families a place to call home has instead become one of Ekurhuleni's most visible examples of government failure. The Clayville Extension 45 social housing development, located near Thembisa, has not seen a single family move through its doors in seven years. The reason is a funding blunder that should never have happened. The City of Ekurhuleni channelled money from the wrong government grant into the project, something that National Treasury eventually picked up during its oversight process.

More than R122 million has been spent on a social housing development in Clayville near Thembisa, but not a single family has moved in

National Treasury flagged the error of the City of Ekurhuleni, which used the wrong grant to fund the project, forcing the city to halt construction

The abandoned site has since been stripped and vandalised, while families who have waited years for housing watch the development continue to decay

Nerissa Naidoo, a journalist at Briefly News since 2024, previously worked as an editor, content creator, researcher, and ghostwriter before joining the team.

Once the error was flagged, the city had no choice but to pull the funding entirely, bringing all construction to a halt. By that point, more than R122 million had already been used up, and the development was nowhere near finished. With no one maintaining or securing the site, it did not take long for vandals and criminals to move in, stripping the half-built structures and leaving what remained in a state of serious decay. The development was designed to provide over 450 housing units to people who have been on waiting lists and living in difficult conditions for years, making the collapse of the project a particularly painful blow for the Clayville community.

How the project fell apart?

Ekurhuleni Housing Company CEO Zingsani Nkamana confirmed that the city had made a serious funding mistake.

"The city has used the wrong grant to fund the project. This was picked up by the National Treasury, and the city had to decide to withdraw that funding because it was using the wrong grant, not meant for the development of social housing," he said.

Nkamana added that a new budget of R50 million has been set aside to finally complete the development, though no timeline has been given for when work will resume.

Residents and experts speak out

OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage said the situation was sadly not surprising. Community liaison officer Pat Mohlala said the people of Clayville are deeply unhappy about what they see every time they enter the area.

This article was originally posted by The Briefly