2010-03-30: City and multi-agency task team making great strdes in combating building hijackings
THE arrest of nine building hijackers over the weekend has generated positive response from the City of Johannesburg and members of the community. Executive Mayor Amos Masondo has praised the work of the Directorate for Priority Crime Unit, the South African Police Services and members of the task team (which includes the City of Johannesburg's Region F, NPA, SAPS, amongst others ) for taking swift and decisive action to combat the scourge of building hijackings which have plagued the Inner City over the past couple of years.
The Johannesburg Inner City is a major economic generator in South Africa providing approximately 12% of national employment. With over 1 million people living, working and playing in the Inner City, strong focused regeneration initiatives over the past couple of years, have resulted in a steady come back of business and investment. However, one of the stumbling blocks had been the scourge of building hijacking.
Unscrupulous individuals often take over buildings from their legitimate owners and landlords, and populate them with people desperate for accommodation and then demand rental money from them without providing basic services such as water, electricity, refuse removal and sanitation. The rental money collected by these individuals is not paid to the City for the provision of basic municipal services. These buildings are very often 'bad buildings' in that they are overcrowded, have problems with waste, are fire and safety hazards and are havens for criminals.
In May 2009 the City of Johannesburg's approved an expanded legal section to operate within the Inner City and surrounds with the specific aim of targeting bad, hijacked and slum buildings.
This section includes a Special investigations unit. Since commencing with their work, the section has received a large number of cases and continued with investigations on specifically targeted slum & hijacked properties. A team of investigators, prosecutors, SARS and AFU have been working on the priority matters which resulted in the arrests reported on in the last couple of days.
This is the start of a programme of sustained action against all building hijackers and illegal operators within the City and the process will be intensified over the next couple of months.
The City of Johannesburg encourages members of the public to come forward with information pertaining to building hijacking and to report such information safely, confidentially and anonymously to: 0860111381 or email: innercityhotline@joburg.org.za
For more Information please contact:
Shaun O'Shea
Manager: Stakeholder Management and Liaison
City of Johannesburg: Region F
Telephone: 011 376-8530
Fax: 011 376-8588
Issued by:
Gaynor Mashamaite-Noyce
Public Liaison
011-407-7090