The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration Management has prioritised three interventions to address about 2 400 non-compliant buildings across South Africa’s metropolitan municipalities, including a national funding model for temporary emergency accommodation.
The interventions follow the IMC’s consideration of a consolidated report on so-called bad and hijacked buildings across the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities.
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said the report showed that municipalities already had the necessary by-laws, structures and enforcement processes to identify and act against hijacked buildings, with the main challenge lying in executing court orders for evictions and remediation.
“The constraint lies at, among other things, the point of execution because court orders for eviction or remediation cannot lawfully be carried out because municipalities have no funded temporary emergency accommodation to place occupants in. The Constitutional Court has confirmed on several occasions that this duty rests with the municipalities,” Kubayi said.
The report drew on submissions from the Cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, eThekwini, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung and Buffalo City, together with published information on the City of Cape Town.
Three interventions prioritised
Following engagements with mayors from all eight metropolitan municipalities, the IMC has resolved to prioritise three measures.
The first is the development of a national funding model for temporary emergency accommodation, led by the Department of Human Settlements.
The second is the prioritisation of hijacked-building matters by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in the Magistrates’ and High Courts.
The third is the adoption of a single national definition and reporting template, to be coordinated by the Department of Cooperative Governance.
This common definition and reporting system is intended to ensure that the scale of the problem is measured consistently across all eight metropolitan municipalities.
The IMC’s engagements with mayors also highlighted the financial and infrastructure pressures created by hijacked buildings, including lost municipal revenue resulting from non-payment of rates and excessive consumption of water and energy when buildings are used beyond their approved regulatory capacity.
Repurposing vacant buildings
Mayors also called for consideration to be given to repurposing underutilised and vacant buildings for student accommodation and affordable rental housing.
The proposal is intended to serve as a preventative measure against inner-city decay and dilapidation, while also addressing the criminal activity that has taken hold in many hijacked buildings.
Kubayi said the IMC’s approach is not only about addressing the condition of buildings but also tackling criminal networks operating from them.
“Again, we would like to emphasise that we are undertaking this important assignment to bolster our efforts to rehabilitate the dilapidated inner-city environment [and] also to get rid of the criminal enclaves in these buildings.
“Our law enforcement is also geared towards dealing with the criminal syndicates that operate these buildings through illegal collection of rent and other forms of abuse suffered by illegal occupiers,” the Minister said.
The IMC said hijacked and abandoned buildings were, in many cases, illegally occupied and being used for criminal activities, including human trafficking, drug dealing, illicit goods trading and substance abuse.
Mayors expressed support for a coordinated national effort to reclaim hijacked buildings, including joint law enforcement operations and cooperation between relevant government departments.
The measures form part of the broader implementation of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Five-Point Plan on Migration Management, which seeks to restore public confidence, strengthen the rule of law, protect South Africa’s borders, modernise migration systems and enhance cooperation with regional and international partners. – SAnews.gov.za
