The Reiger Park Enterprise Hub and Ramaphosa Vocational Skills Centre in Ekurhuleni, built at a cost of about R108.7 million, remains closed and unused nearly eight years after construction began, local sources and official statements confirm. Despite being designed as a facility for trading, light industry, manufacturing workshops, offices, and training, the hub has yet to open due to incomplete external road and access infrastructure, preventing it from obtaining an occupancy certificate, according to Khathutshelo Rasilingwane MPL, the Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate for Ekurhuleni.
Reports from eNCA and TimesLIVE, supported by the DA’s public statements, highlight that the Reiger Park hub is one of several Ekurhuleni public projects—totaling around R659 million—that remain unopened for years. The DA referred these projects to the Public Protector, citing concerns over public funds and service delivery failures.
Residents in Reiger Park express frustration as the hub’s potential to create jobs and provide vital skills training to local youth continues to be wasted. An unidentified resident told eNCA, “It could have made a big difference because there are many of us who looked forward to this facility for jobs. Especially me, I just finished school last year. I’m still sitting at home. This is a really big waste of time.” Community leader Lucinda Schubert added, “There are a lot of youth that don’t know what to do with themselves. With the training centre and everything built here and can help teach the youth and make them employable. Giving them skills, but none of that is being utilised.”
Leon Bussack, a Reiger Park Community Policing Forum member, condemned the idleness of the facility: “It’s a shame that we have a building like this just standing around when it could be used.” Meanwhile, Rasilingwane criticised the ongoing costs related to securing the empty facilities, saying, “I cannot accept that almost R200,000 is being spent every month just to put guards at the facilities to stop hijacking, vandalism and stripping of parts.”
Ekurhuleni’s own public advertisement from June 2025 demonstrated efforts to fill the Reiger Park Enterprise Hub, listing available office space, workshop units, and restaurants for lease. However, with access roads not yet completed, the facility remains locked. While some of the delays are political, others stem from logistical and infrastructural challenges.
Construction of the hub reportedly completed years ago, with some Ekurhuleni facilities finished as early as 2018. Yet, the lack of full operational status raises questions about project management and municipal coordination. The situation impacts local economic development and compounds youth unemployment issues in Reiger Park, one of Ekurhuleni’s communities.
The story underscores wider challenges in South Africa’s public infrastructure delivery and oversight, particularly how multi-million rand investments sometimes fail to translate into tangible community benefits. The Reiger Park hub’s closure despite significant investment draws attention to inefficiencies and missed opportunities affecting residents’ lives and livelihoods.
CapeFlats.co.za will continue to monitor responses from Ekurhuleni officials and the Public Protector’s investigation into the unopened facilities. Updates on progress toward opening the Reiger Park Enterprise Hub and related projects will follow.