Cabinet vows to reclaim all hijacked buildings
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the government is working to reclaim all its buildings in Gauteng which have been hijacked.
Last month, 77 people lost their lives when a fire broke out at a hijacked building in Marshalltown in the Johannesburg CBD.
The blaze has placed a renewed focus on the number of abandoned or hijacked buildings in the Joburg inner city.
It has already led to Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and the city’s metro police conducting a sting operation to flush out suspected syndicates illegally occupying and vandalising city property.
Twenty-three suspects were arrested and detained at Johannesburg Central Police Station.
Ntshavheni told a post-cabinet media briefing on Thursday that the government is working to reclaim all its hijacked buildings.
“We work as an integrated government, where the national government is able to assist they will assist. The Department of Public Works as the overall custodian of the public infrastructure of government in particular real estate, have offered themselves to assist with the project to make sure that we reclaim all government owned premises through the provincial department responsible for infrastructure development in Gauteng.”
Ntshavheni said the government is also working to solve the issue of illegal mining in the province.
“Law enforcement arrested nine zama zama kingpins and were granted preservation orders against their assets that included luxury vehicles, precious metals and cash to the value of R34 million. This goes against the narrative that says in our fight against zama zamas we are only targeting runners…we are targeting kingpins.”
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