32 people were arrested yesterday afternoon after the City conducted a crime prevention operation in three hijacked and bad properties in the inner city.
The operation was led by the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Services Unit in conjunction with the South African Police Service (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 (CRUM) and Social Development departments.
The properties that were targeted during the operation include the Remington Building, Rotary House and New Nation Hotel in Johannesburg Central.
The property owners were issued with compliance notices by Environmental Health and EMS.
The persons arrested are all undocumented immigrants and were detained at the Hillbrow Police Station. They will appear in court within 48 hours.
Immigration officers from the Department of Home Affairs are due to process those who were arrested to ascertain the relevant information.
The operation also focused on collecting data on the occupants living in the buildings, including sex, age and employment status. It is vital that we profile occupants living in these buildings and ensure that together with the rightful owners we are able to find alternative accommodation for them where required.
Two weeks ago the City’s Council has approved our plan for tackling the housing challenge within the inner city and creating safe, clean and connected communities with access to economic opportunities.
12 City owned properties have been made available for the purpose of creating quality low cost housing within the inner city.
The City has conducted an audit of some 500 bad buildings, about 134 of which are confirmed as hijacked. 24 of the 500 bad buildings belong to the City. All of these buildings represent opportunities for creating affordable housing.
Working together with the SAPS and Home Affairs, we are going to intensify these crime prevention operation.
It is essential that we bring back the rule of law in our City and take it back from the criminal elements such as landlords who take advantage of desperate people and house them under deplorable conditions.
We are committed to ensuring that we stop the rot in our inner city and make it a prosperous and inclusive place for our people to live work and play.
I would like to thank all the role players involved in yesterday’s successful operation.