The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements is undertaking detailed planning for the eradication and conversion of six hostels owned by the provincial department to 2 000 family units, Human Settlements Minister Mmamaloko Kubayi said in a written response to questions in the National Council of Provinces.

The provincial department owns the Jeppe, Denver, Murray & Roberts, LTA, MBA and George Goch hostels and provides routine cleaning, major repairs and detailed designs for bulk infrastructure upgrades for these hostels.

Meanwhile, municipalities in the province own a further 59 hostels, for which they provide cleaning, maintenance, structural repairs and upgrading, where necessary.

Kubayi said the national Department of Human Settlements' (DHS's) Gauteng Provincial Administration had prioritised five municipal-owned hostels across the province's various corridors for intervention.

These were Sethokga Hostel in the Eastern Corridor, the Mamelodi Hostel in the Northern Corridor, the Kagiso Hostel in the Western Corridor, the Ratanda Hostel in the Southern Corridor and the Jabulani Hostel in the Central Corridor.

The intervention in these hostels will include carrying out emergency repairs that hostel leaders have identified as urgent and life-threatening to hostel residents. However, at the Kagiso Hostel, the provincial government has decided that it would be prudent to demolish the existing hostel and completely redevelop the precinct to build family housing units.

"The intervention in the five hostels is critical support that the province is providing to the municipalities. However, the interventions do not exempt the municipalities from their responsibilities towards these hostels," Kubayi emphasised.

Additionally, the DHS has plans to intervene at hostels throughout the country, she noted.

"The DHS Community Residential Units programme is used to convert, refurbish and completely redevelop hostels into family units. The programme also has a maintenance option that allows the province or municipality to attend to long-term maintenance issues," the Minister said.