The North West Housing Corporation (NWHC), a state-owned entity of the North West Government, will dispose of its portfolio of non-core and non-strategic immovable assets to lower its operating costs and raise capital to fund more essential service delivery initiatives.
These non-core and non-strategic immovable assets consist of more than 1800 properties including vacant land, farms, and business properties situated outside the jurisdiction of the North West Province.
The North West provincial government is the owner of a large portfolio of assets in Gauteng, Free State and the Northern Cape which used to belong to the Bophuthatswana government.
North West Housing Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sello Mogodiri, says they have properties in several areas.
“We do have properties in Mabopane, Garankuwa, Winterweld and Kudube in Hamanskraal. We also have properties in Kuruman, Mothibistad, Northern Cape. We also have a number of properties in the areas of Thabanchu in the Free State.
Mogodiri says these assets will now be auctioned to fund provincial housing service delivery initiatives.
“We have previously communicated a decision to focus on building mixed mega human settlements. Now for us to do all that we are going to need to raise funds from assets that are really not generating income.”
Assets are collectively estimated at around half a billion rand. Mogodiri elaborates.
“Our estimation of these properties is half a billion rand. I am sure half a billion rand should be able to assist the North West province to be developed at the combined speed of Singapore and Hong Kong.”
Dr Tirhani Mabunda of Tirhani Auctions says the auction will be held virtually.
The properties earmarked for disposal are approximately 1800 in the areas where the CEO announced.
“Primarily we’ll be using online auctions to do the disposals. Online auctions are very transparent and auditable you can track a bid from the time it starts even in seconds until it closes,” says Mabunda.
