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A tough new task force has been unleashed on bad buildings in the inner city. It is looking at slumlords, hijacked buildings and errant owners.
A task team has been set up to track down and prosecute slumlords
THE City of Johannesburg has turned up the heat on owners of bad buildings, slumlords and those who have hijacked buildings in the inner city.
A task team with serious law-enforcement teeth is in place and it has its eyes trained on 12 of the inner city's worst structures as part of a massive programme to eradicate bad buildings.
Made up of a select group of individuals from Region F officials, the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the task team is investigating the identified buildings and, according to the regional director, Nkosinathi Mthethwa, "arrests are imminent".
The multi-disciplinary team has signed a formal memorandum of understanding which stipules their agreement to co-operate "with and assist one another to ensure unified and consistent action in the detection, prevention and prosecution of contraventions of legislation and City by-laws" especially relating to bad buildings.
Broadened scope
Over the last few months the region has broadened the scope of how it deals with bad buildings, he says, explaining that it wants to do more than just enforce by-laws.
"Previous [bad building] programmes focussed on the structural integrity and urban management challenges. We are now digging deeper into root causes. We want to find out who are these faceless landlords."
"We will focus on close to 60 of the buildings in Region F which are the worst," he confirmed.
Another 40 have been handed over to various legal teams who will pursue the matter on behalf of the City.
"The City's intention is to eradicate bad buildings; so if the property owner comes forward with a plan to renovate the building so that it complies with all the by-laws, the City will accommodate such a property owner," confirms Mthethwa.
Already, six such property owners have signed legally binding documents with Johannesburg, committing to the complete renovation of their properties as per stipulated timelines.
"We are pinning them down to redevelop their properties."
New leader
The region's investigative unit is also about to appoint a new head, who, according to Mthethwa, will have to hit the ground running.
And in future, the hijacking of buildings will be a criminal offence. The City has the full support of the NPA, which has agreed to escalate building hijacking cases in the justice system, giving them priority, he says.
Residents will also be able to bring offenders to book. The regional office now has a special hotline telephone number and email address to report buildings that are being hijacked or are already hijacked - 0860 111 381 and
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.
Displaced owners
Johannesburg is also extending a hand to those property owners - irrespective of whether it is a business, sectional title or a home - that have been displaced as a result of hijacked buildings.
Some of the people Joburg would like to hear from are those who have been forcibly removed from a property; or are unable to gain access to the property; or are paying an account for the property without the required documents; or live in a building that is mismanaged and has no infrastructure services available.
Ultimately, the City would like to compile a database of displaced owners so that it can get a better picture of the extent of the problem, Mthethwa adds.
People who consider themselves victims of any of these circumstances can contact Patrick Phosa on 011 376 8640 or fax 011 376 8588 or send an email to
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.
The response to an advertisement calling for people to report these concerns, which ran in a number of national newspapers, has so far been very good, with about 30 calls or replies received a day.
Mthethwa says the perception should not be created that there is a crisis in the inner city, or that all bad buildings have been hijacked. Rather, this drive forms part of the City's extensive plan to regenerate the area in line with the commitments made in the Inner City Regeneration Charter.
"The pockets of bad buildings are tainting the city's image. Some of these buildings are holding back investment."
There are about 400 bad buildings in Region F. The special task team will also extend its focus to the peripheral areas of the region, where bad buildings have been identified, particularly in Malvern, Rosettenville, Turffontein and Booysens.
Database of Inner City property owners [PDF, 17KB]
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