15 illegally occupied buildings in Joburg CBD reclaimed: Lesufi

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says 15 illegally occupied buildings have so far been reclaimed in the Johannesburg CBD.

He says the buildings will be demolished and rebuilt. He says an estimated 413 illegally occupied and derelict buildings have been identified.

Lesufi says the verification of such buildings is under way across the province.

In Tshwane, 22 buildings have been classified as bad buildings including some that have been hijacked.

Lesufi says majority of the buildings in the inner cities in Gauteng have been hijacked by foreigners whose identities are not known. He was responding to a question in the Gauteng Legislature earlier today.

“There are people that we do not know where they come from. They are illegal in the country. If you evict them, the current law says you must provide alternative accommodation to them. Which we really believe is unfair. That you can’t provide alternative accommodation to people that are not properly documented. Because I don’t think that those who developed this legislature had a foresight that we will have this number of foreign people in our country. They developed that legislation on the basis of South Africans.”