Twelve people were arrested on Thursday afternoon during a crime prevention operation conducted by the City of Johannesburg in three hijacked and bad properties in the inner city.

The properties that were targeted during the operation were the Booysens squatter camp‚ Melthard Court and Delvers Close.

Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba said the property owners were issued with compliance notices by Environmental Health and the Emergency Management Services.

“A total of 12 undocumented immigrants were arrested during the operation and detained at the Johannesburg Central Police Station.

“It is now the responsibility of the Department of Home Affairs to process those who were arrested. Those who qualify for asylum must be expeditiously issued with the relevant papers‚” Mashaba said.

He said the City had conducted an audit of some 500 bad buildings‚ about 134 of which were confirmed as hijacked. Twenty-four of the 500 bad buildings belong to the City.

“All of these buildings represent opportunities for creating affordable housing.

“Working together with the law enforcement authorities‚ we will continue to intensify these crime prevention operations.

“It is essential that we bring back the rule of law in our City and take it back from the criminal elements such as landlords who take advantage of desperate people and house them under deplorable conditions.

“We are committed to ensuring that we stop the rot in our inner city and make it a prosperous and inclusive place for our people to live‚ work and play‚” Mashaba said.