More than 1,200 state properties are illegally occupied in SA

More than 1,200 properties on the department of public works asset register are flagged as illegally occupied.

The department on Sunday said 1,260 of its 29,000 properties were identified as such in its “Operation Bring Back” programme. 

The department, responsible for state property management, has been tasked with undertaking a governmentwide investigation into hijacked buildings in SA metros.

This follows an interministerial committee meeting related to the recent Marshalltown disaster in which 77 people perished in a burning, hijacked state building. 

“The minister of public works and infrastructure Sihle Zikalala is to lead the task of identifying all hijacked buildings in the country, as well as indicate what should be done with all those properties,” said departmental spokesperson Lennox Mabaso.

Operation Bring Back aims to recover stolen or illegally transferred properties and hijacked buildings; regulate occupancy in state properties through legacy housing policies, and investigate and identify more properties that are illegally occupied. 

“The department will intensify this operation in all metros and municipalities in the country. Each metro or municipality will have to indicate how many properties it has on its asset register, the state of those assets, what they are used for and its current status. Depending on the status of those properties, the ministry will recommend what should be done,” said Mabaso.

As part of the plan, a nationwide call is to be made for individuals and institutions to avail themselves for amnesty, and to regularise their occupation of properties in line with applicable laws of the country.   

“These properties could be sold to individuals concerned, be leased or be used as rental stock. This intervention by the ministry will include a forensic investigation of the asset register, and the identification of illegally occupied properties without amnesty and may lead to the institution of criminal prosecutions and or expropriation of unclaimed properties.

“The department will exhaust all means to identify the owners of properties with municipalities and in cases of buildings where owners have absconded or are not forthcoming, these will be subject to expropriation by the state in line with the Expropriation Act,” said Mabaso.

He added that the ministry was legally empowered to expropriate any property for public good in terms of the Expropriation Act. 

“The department will, as a matter of urgency, commission multidisciplinary built environment consultants to investigate the structural, civil, building, electrical, mechanical and safety integrity of the identified buildings and make recommendations on how to rejuvenate the CBDs of all cities in all our metros and municipalities.” 

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