Joburg Fix Squad
Repairing public spaces while building work pathways
Joburg Fix Squad is JICP’s place-based repair, maintenance and skills development programme for Johannesburg’s inner city.
The programme responds to two urgent realities at the same time: the growing backlog of public space repairs across the inner city, and the need for structured employment and training pathways for residents, particularly young people and women.
Fix Squad links practical repair work with accredited training, full-time employment and future enterprise opportunities. Participants are employed and trained while carrying out visible improvements to sidewalks, kerbs, stormwater drains, street furniture, lighting, park facilities and pocket plazas.
The programme is spatially guided by the Walkable Network, helping ensure that repairs and improvements are concentrated where they can reinforce broader regeneration efforts. It also operates as a demand-responsive repair capability, responding to urgent maintenance needs identified through JICP partners, City structures, City Improvement Districts and private-sector stakeholders.
The challenge
Johannesburg’s inner city has a growing backlog of small but important repairs.
Broken pavements, damaged kerbs, blocked stormwater drains, poor lighting, neglected parks and deteriorating public spaces affect safety, walkability, dignity and confidence. These issues may seem small when viewed individually, but together they shape how people experience the city every day.
At the same time, many training and employment programmes do not create clear pathways into future work. Participants may gain some exposure, but too often the link between training, practical experience, supervision and post-programme opportunity is weak.
Fix Squad responds by connecting infrastructure maintenance with workforce development. It treats public space repair not only as a technical task, but as an opportunity to build skills, confidence, leadership and enterprise pathways.
Our approach
Joburg Fix Squad is designed as a two-year Earn and Learn model.
Participants are employed full-time while completing selected accredited training modules linked directly to the repair and maintenance work they perform on site. The programme includes practical exposure in areas such as bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, carpentry, roofing, basic construction management, financial literacy and occupational health and safety.
Each cycle employs 100 participants, including first-time participants, previously qualified participants and retained high-performing participants who move into supervisory roles. This creates a pathway for skills progression, leadership development and continuity across the programme.
JICP leads the programme as employer of record and coordinates operations, procurement, supervision, payroll, compliance and site-level delivery. Training coordination is supported through the National Business Initiative and accredited training partners, with site identification and local support provided through City and private-sector collaboration.
What this looks like on the ground
Fix Squad teams carry out practical repairs and upgrades across inner-city public spaces.
This includes sidewalk repairs, pothole repairs, kerb repairs, stormwater-related maintenance, improvements to street furniture, lighting support, park facility repairs and work linked to pocket plazas on the Walkable Network.
The programme combines spatial targeting with practical responsiveness. Some work is focused on priority routes and nodes on the Walkable Network, while other work responds to urgent maintenance needs identified through local systems and partners.
The model also builds supervisory capacity from within the participant group. High-performing participants can progress into supervisor roles, helping coordinate teams, maintain work standards and mentor incoming participants.
Top-performing participants may also transition into a micro-contractor development pathway, with support such as registration, tools, mentorship, technical coaching and access to future local maintenance opportunities.
Why it matters
Joburg Fix Squad shows how public space maintenance can become a platform for inclusive regeneration.
When small repairs are done consistently and visibly, streets become safer, more walkable and more dignified. Public confidence improves. Property owners and local stakeholders see practical change. Maintenance stops being only a complaint and becomes part of a coordinated regeneration strategy.
For participants, the programme provides more than short-term work. It offers employment, accredited training, practical site experience, supervision, leadership opportunities and a pathway toward micro-contracting.
For the inner city, Fix Squad creates a practical delivery capability that can respond to real maintenance needs while building local skills and enterprise capacity.
Key targets
Cycle 1 of Joburg Fix Squad is planned for 2026–2027 as the foundational phase of a six-year programme vision.
Cycle 1 targets include:
- 100 participants trained and employed;
- 10 micro-contractors launched;
- 5 pocket plazas developed;
- 2,400 potholes repaired;
- 2,400 linear metres of walkway repairs; and
- at least 60% participation from women and youth.
Across the full six-year vision, the programme aims to train and employ 300 unique participants, create 600 annualised employment opportunities, launch 30 micro-contractors, develop or upgrade 25 pocket plazas, repair more than 7,200 potholes, and restore more than 7,200 metres of walkways.
Looking ahead
Joburg Fix Squad is intended to operate over three two-year cycles, building a long-term repair and skills pipeline for the inner city.
The programme will use monitoring and reporting tools to track training progress, certification milestones, public asset repairs and micro-enterprise development. These insights will help JICP and its partners adapt the model over time and strengthen the pathway from employment into enterprise.
As the programme grows, Fix Squad has the potential to become a replicable model for linking public asset renewal, workforce activation and local enterprise development in urban areas.
An invitation to partner
Joburg Fix Squad depends on practical collaboration between public, private and civic partners.
JICP invites funders, property owners, City structures, improvement districts, training partners and local stakeholders to support the programme through funding, site identification, technical support, mentorship and access to future maintenance opportunities.
The opportunity is to repair the city while building the people who can help maintain it.