City of Tshwane evicts people living illegally in hijacked buildings

JOHANNESBURG - The City of Tshwane is evicting people living illegally in hijacked buildings in the city, as part of efforts to address its housing crisis.

The city said the buildings will be cleaned out and demolished to create space for new housing structures.

On Thursday, Mayor Nasiphi Moya visited some of the buildings in Pretoria West as city officials sought to ensure that residents who were instructed to vacate complied.

Moya said that once all evictions are complete, the new properties to be built would house the homeless and be used for commercial purposes.

While the overall number of hijacked buildings cannot yet be confirmed in Tshwane, in Pretoria West there are six properties that belong to the city.

On Thursday, Moya and other city officials made a follow-up visit to properties in the area to ensure that everyone had vacated.

One of the buildings visited on Thursday was declared uninhabitable because of its broken windows, makeshift cardboard shelters and a bonfire, among other things.

Now that everyone has left, Moya said the city could work on the demolition process of the buildings.

She said that Thursday’s oversight was an effort to prevent another tragic ordeal like the Usindiso building in Johannesburg, where 77 people died in a fire at a hijacked building.

The mayor said: "There were three hundred people that were staying here. They were served with notices after my visit that they must evacuate because this is not safe for people to stay here."

She added that there would be more regular inspections to ensure progress on this project.