Landlords battle to evict illegal occupants of buildings

Joburg must find temporary emergency accommodation’

Koena Mashale Journalist
Chairman of the commission of inquiry into the Usindiso building fire in Johannesburg justice Sisi Khampepe /
Chairman of the commission of inquiry into the Usindiso building fire in Johannesburg justice Sisi Khampepe /
Image: Antonio Muchave

For 10 years, a property developer and management battled to evict illegal occupants of a building bought with the intention of converting it to student accommodation. 

This emerged at the Khampepe commission of inquiry, which investigated the 2023 Usindiso building fire, where the issue of hijacked buildings in the Joburg CBD and the city's alleged failure to find alternative accommodation for evicted people took centre-stage on Monday. 

Solomon Ramalamula, managing director of Take Shape, which manages Remington Height on behalf of Nulane Investments, told the commission of their struggles to get rid of illegal occupants of the building on the corner of Albert and Delvers streets. Nulane Investments bought the already-hijacked building in 2013. 

"The real delay was due to the court process. From 2013 until 2023, we were dealing with an eviction process, and the mandate required the city to find alternative accommodation for these people. They [city] took their time with that process, all while billing us for utilities we weren’t responsible for,” said Ramalamula. 

He said their debt to the municipality reached R8m with efforts to reduce it due to hijacking going unheeded. 

Speaking as a witness at the commission, Ramalamula said occupiers who could afford rent elsewhere vacated the building before temporary emergency accommodation (TEA) was provided.

"We had informed the occupants to vacate even before police would intervene. Some occupiers resisted and slept in the street. We had also informed them that we offered affordable rental units for R1,500 per month,” he said. 

Ramalamula said initially, there was a dispute over ownership between Nulane Investments and the residents. 

“When Nulane bought the property, records indicated that half the occupants were paying rent as per the rent roll. However, as we assumed control, a dispute arose, and tenants began posting security personnel on the property, forcing us to initiate eviction proceedings,” he said.

From 2013 until 2023, we were dealing with an eviction process, and the mandate required the city to find alternative accommodation for these people.
Solomon Ramalamula, managing director of Take Shape

The situation escalated when the company requested that the city disconnect services, leading some tenants to resort to using water from fire hydrants. 

“The municipality took time to respond to our request but eventually disconnected services. After the water supply was cut, some occupiers began using fire hydrants, while others sublet their units to foreigners and collected rent from them. The occupants then vandalised and stripped the building,” Ramalamula said. 

He said the city contributes to the issue of "bad buildings", a sentiment shared by John Vermaak, an expert witness on hijacked buildings and eviction processes. 

Vermaak said evictions are indefinitely delayed by the city's inability to provide alternative accommodation. 

“We have approximately 25 buildings subject to eviction applications in our office. Some of these are what we call 'bad buildings,' where evictions are indefinitely delayed by the city's failure to provide TEA. Many residents of these buildings, as seen by the commission, are among the poorest and cannot, with their own resources, secure alternative accommodation.  

“They would require TEA from the state, as mandated by the Blue Moonlight ruling. Unfortunately, TEA provision has been woefully inadequate; in the last five years. I can recall only one instance where TEA was provided,” Vermaak said. 

Vermaak further said the city disclosed it cannot and will not provide TEA to undocumented foreign nationals, although he asserted there is no policy that discriminates in this way. 

“The constitution stipulates that ‘everyone’ is entitled to adequate housing, with no exceptions for undocumented foreigners. The Housing Code provides for TEA for undocumented foreigners on a case-by-case basis, subject to conditions set by the department of home affairs. The city’s TEA policy itself does not exclude undocumented foreigners, specifying only that they will be handled in consultation with the department,” he said. 

Referencing to a hijacked building on Davies Street, Vermaak said that residents might be safer on the streets than in the building. 

“The Davies Street buildings are, in my view, terrible. Living in them is worse than, quite frankly, being on the street; they could potentially kill you. I concluded 20 years ago, from my involvement with these bad buildings, that fire countermeasures – like extinguishers and hoses – are not the real issue. The real issue is the ability to escape,” he said. 

“The premise of TEA is an emergency. However, Johannesburg and other municipalities seem focused on developing buildings for TEA, but that is a luxury,” Vermaak said. 

City of Joburg spokesperson  Nthatisi Modingoane had not responded to questions sent to him by the time of going to print.

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