‘Destruction MMCs’ Kenny Kunene and Mgcini Tshwaku tour dilapidated building in CBD

Two Johannesburg MMCs on Tuesday blamed the city’s challenges with hijacked buildings on NGOs and rulings made in court “without doing in-loco visits” to the buildings for which the judgments are applicable. 

Transport MMC Kenny Kunene, who has previously received flak for his raid-and-evict stance, joined public safety MMC Mgcini Tshwaku for a walk around Vannin Court, a derelict but inhabited building in Hilbrow, with law enforcement officers.

“We are here as part of Operation Namge Namhlange and Operation Restore, which is a joint operation in terms of identifying and checking illegal dilapidated buildings with an intention to close them down by whatever means necessary. They call us the destruction boys. I don’t know why,” Tshwaku said.

He said the ward chancellor for ward 23, Masindi Mmbengwa, has been “crying on an almost daily basis about crime in the area”. 

“When we chase the criminals they run into this building. This building is dark. There is no water, no electricity and no sanitation.”

“Today we are going to do an inspection. But conditions can change. If we feel we must close it, we will close it, court or no court,” Tshwaku said. 

“There is noncompliance in this building. It doesn’t comply with the fire brigade act in terms of emergencies and all those things.” 

He said he is worried about the state of the building and the safety of its inhabitants.

“The structural integrity of this building is not good so it can fall any time. These people are staying in a dire and unhealthy environment. If we feel this is bad and we are closing it, we will take these people to a shelter.” 

Tshwaku said he believes part of the problem is court judgments made without presiding officers visiting the scene.

“The court must come here and do an inspection in loco so if they make judgments they can see if the judgment makes sense.” 

Kunene agreed with his colleague.

“We were here before, in April, to evict people and we were interdicted. We want to make it very clear that we have declared war on hijacked buildings, NGO or no NGO.

“We are appealing to the courts that before they make judgments they must do what the MMC said, come and do inspections in loco.

“They must come and look at these buildings. We were at a building on Saturday, where we freed a young girl who has been made a sex slave by a Tanzanian national who locked her in a shack on the rooftop of a building that does not have toilets, electricity or water. There are faeces and urine everywhere.

“We are not going to be apologetic. When people die in these buildings, it is the city of Johannesburg that is blamed. Once you say a building is hijacked it means a crime has been committed. The Johannesburg metro police department must enforce bylaws. EMS has made it clear this building is non-compliant.

“The criminal syndicates continue to make money out of the desperation of our people. We are doing what we were voted in to do and that is to ensure service delivery,” Kunene said. 

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