Johannesburg - Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala has vowed to reclaim more than 1 000 illegally occupied buildings.
Yesterday, Zikalala said his ministry has been tasked with conducting a government-wide investigation into hijacked buildings in the country’s metros.
He said out of the 29 000 government buildings in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure asset register, 1 260 are identified as being illegally occupied.
The department said it aimed to identify and recover all those properties as part of Operation Bring Back, which will see each municipality list all its properties and indicate whether or not they were hijacked.
The department also called on individuals or institutions occupying hijacked buildings to avail themselves of amnesty and formalise their occupancy with the state.
The department said it will intensify its operations in all metros and municipalities throughout the country.
“Each metro or municipality will have to indicate how many properties it has on its asset register, the state of those assets, what they are used for, and their current status. Depending on the status of those properties, the Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure will recommend what should be done,” the minister said.
At the weekend, the Joburg Property Owners and Managers Association (JPOMA) said 57 of its building in the City of Joburg had been hijacked.
Speaking to The Star, chairperson of JPOMA, Angela Rivers, said most of the properties targeted by hijackers were government or city-owned.
She also blamed corruption in the city council as the biggest contributor to the many cases of building hijacking.
“There is huge corruption in the council, and building hijackings are big money.
“There is no way this could have carried on for 20 years without quite a few people taking money,” Rivers said.
Hijacking syndicates use money and violence in order to force themselves into vulnerable properties or those they are targeting, she said.
“They use force and intimidation and play on people’s desperation and need for a roof over their heads.
“They will either infiltrate the building as tenants or just go in and advise everyone that they are the new owners and rent must be paid to them. There are many cases of fraudulently lent title deeds being used.”
She called on both local government as well as national and provincial authorities and officials to catch a wake-up.
“The city needs to wake up! We need to work together with the private sector to get all their departments mobilised, and we need to do it together; it cannot be done alone.
“The government has done nothing or next to nothing for victims and property owners. They are happy to sit back and let the city crumble around them while they help themselves to the money that the citizens pay in the form of rates and taxes.
“The council needs to understand that they are public servants, and their role and purpose is to serve the citizens of Johannesburg and not just themselves. People have died because of their lack of action for 20 years,” Rivers said.
The Star