Zikalala to intensify campaign to reclaim State-owned properties from illegal occupants

CAPE TOWN - Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala is expected to intensify a campaign to take back state-owned properties from illegal occupants.

Zikalala started the nationwide campaign in Cape Town, where he handed eviction notices to more than 100 illegal occupants who hijacked State-owned properties in Goodwood and Khayelitsha.

The deputy minister said the illegal occupants had until midnight on Sunday to vacate the buildings before being forcibly removed by police.

"We have found that there is a trend where people will see unoccupied buildings and then they take them over illegally. It goes to the extent of renting them out as if they own them."

Zikalala said the focus is on buildings in the department’s immovable asset register.

"We are going to roll out this campaign all over the country to ensure that we reclaim government buildings."