Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda led a raid on a hijacked building in the city.
- The City of Johannesburg says delays in the development of a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department vehicle pound are due to changes in the City’s administration and questions raised in the council.
- The City bought the building in 2019 for R40 million, but it was never developed for its intended purpose and had become illegally occupied.
- The municipality was investigating the circumstances around the occupation, said a spokesperson.
The City of Johannesburg says leadership changes in the municipality delayed the development of a building that was bought in 2019 to convert it into a vehicle pound for the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).
The 5-hectare property, bought to enforce the City’s Operation Buya Mthetho activities, was meant to accommodate approximately 10 000 vehicles impounded for infringements such as drunk driving, unroadworthiness and illegal parking.
City spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane told News24 after a raid led by Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda that 23 people were arrested for illegally occupying the building, among them a city councillor.
News24 asked when the building, which cost the City R40 million, was illegally occupied and why the municipality hadn’t used it for its intended purpose yet.
Modingoane said the occupation was under investigation.
READ | Joburg’s internal investigations department probing 188 hijacked building cases – 13 owned by City
He attributed the delayed development to changes in the municipality’s administration and other issues raised in the council about the purchase of the building.
“The changes in administration delayed the development due to questions raised in council around the transaction,” he said.
Gwamanda, the JMPD and other city officials pounced on construction workers who had illegally occupied the building.
The raid emanated from the City’s search for alternative accommodation for former residents of the Marshalltown building that burnt down last week.
The blaze killed 77 people.
Gwamanda said the city would investigate allegations about the involvement of a senior SA Police Service officer in the occupation of the pound building.
Modingoane declined to reveal the identity or political affiliation of the councillor until due council processes have been concluded.
Asked about the City’s plans for the building after the removal of the occupiers on Wednesday, Modingoane said the City hadn’t finalised its next step.
“The immediate plan is to create a temporary shelter for victims of [the fire]. Plans will be communicated once finalised,” he said.