Residents of hijacked Joburg buildings want govt to improve their living conditions

JOHANNESBURG - Residents of hijacked buildings in Johannesburg say they want government to improve their living conditions. 

On Wednesday, the commission of inquiry into the Usindiso Building fire visited five buildings in the city suspected of being hijacked or abandoned. 

The inspections are the second part of the commission’s work, after investigating what caused the fire which killed 77 people almost a year ago.

Residents of Industry House building in central Johannesburg have been fighting forced evictions for a number of years. 

The tenants are represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI). 

The institute has repeatedly argued in court that the Johannesburg municipality cannot evict them without providing an alternative accommodation. 

A member of the residents committee, Sakhephi Langa, said they had gotten used to living without water and electricity, which the city cut a long time ago. 

"I don't want to lie, the conditions are very bad here but we no longer have an issue with it. We would appreciate it if government could help in improving the conditions here but we don’t want to be moved from our place."

Langa said that over 500 people currently lived in the five-storey building.