Yesterday, the City of Johannesburg conducted a crime prevention operation in several hijacked properties in the Johannesburg East Cluster within Jeppestown, Doornfontein and the CBD, in order to fight criminal slum lords who live off the desperate needs of our residents.
A total of 53 undocumented persons were arrested as part of the operation, and detained at the Jeppestown Police Station. Immigration officers from the Department of Home Affairs will now process those who were detained.
The City is still conducting socio-economic and needs audits of those living within the raided buildings to ensure that we offer the necessary support.
Hijacked buildings are a major challenge in our inner city, but we are unwavering in our resolve to ensure that we turn around the decay of our inner city and see these buildings turned into low cost housing for our residents.
To see this realised, the City is still in the process of conducting an extensive audit of inner city buildings. The first stage of this audit is being conducted in Jeppestown with a goal of identifying 25 suitable properties for development.
I have stated time and again that the revitalization of the Inner City is key to ensuring economic growth and job creation in the City of Johannesburg, and that as a prerequisite to this, the rule of law must be respected. We are well on our way to ensuring a prosperous and inclusive city for our people to live, work and play in.
Yesterday’s operation was led by the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Services Department in conjunction with the SAPS, Department of Home Affairs, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), Emergency Management Services (EMS), and the City’s Environmental Health, Citizen Relationship and Urban Management and Social Development departments.
I would like to thank all the role players involved in yesterday’s successful operation, especially Gauteng Provincial Commissioner of SAPS, Lt Gen DS De Lange, and Home Affairs for their continued support.