At least 50 state-owned buildings in Johannesburg’s CBD are thought to have been kidnapped by criminal syndicates. According to Angela Rivers, head of the Joburg Property Owners and Managers Association, there are at least 57 kidnapped buildings in the Joburg Inner City.
The Usindiso Building in Marshalltown caught fire at 1 a.m. on Thursday, displacing around 200 people. At this point, the origin of the fire is unknown, and at least 74 people have died. The City of Johannesburg leased the building to the Department of Social Development, who utilized it as a refuge for abused women and children. According to the city, the building was kidnapped about 2019. Rivers stated that the majority of the properties targeted by criminals
According to Rivers, the majority of the structures targeted by criminal syndicates were either city-owned or state-owned.
Rivers attributed the epidemic on “incompetent and arrogant” local authorities.
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She said that the lethargic bureaucrats were difficult to fire, that they were heavily unionised, that they did not do their tasks, and that they were paid every month despite not working.
Rivers further stated that the Prevention of Illegal Evictions Act (PIE) barred evictions even from dilapidated properties.
“You cannot remove them without alternative accommodation; you cannot throw them out on the streets,” she explained.
Rivers also stated that the City of Johannesburg has a Problem Properties Bylaw, which provided the City Council the authority to remove residents living in condemned structures.
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