Usindiso Building Fire Commission recommends CoJ consider establishing a directorate for property management

JOHANNESBURG - The Usindiso Building Fire Commission of inquiry has recommended that the City of Johannesburg consider establishing a directorate for property management.

This directorate would manage all city-owned buildings in the inner city to prevent the illegal occupation of its properties.

The commission has concluded part two of its investigation, which focused on probing the prevalence of hijacked buildings in Johannesburg CBD.

The commission of inquiry has stressed the urgent need for stronger coordination and collaboration between the City of Johannesburg and its property-related entities.

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It has recommended the establishment of a dedicated directorate for property management to close the loopholes that enable illegal building occupations.

The commission also raised concerns about the Johannesburg social housing company, which was created to address housing challenges but has been unable to fulfil its mandate due to financial difficulties.

Previous reports revealed that Johannesburg has 188 hijacked buildings, 14 of which are privately owned.

However, the commission also found that some city-owned “bad buildings” are incorrectly being classified as hijacked by the metro.