More than a decade ago, a task team set up to deal with building hijackings in the City of Johannesburg boasted successes of returning 36 buildings in the inner city to their legitimate owners.
At the time, the team made up of police, prosecutors and SARS officials had been at work tracking about 1,500 hijacked buildings in the city. This was part of the city’s attempts to attract investment through rejuvenation and rehabilitation of decaying properties in the CBD.
Fast forward to last week, a fire broke out in a hijacked building and claimed the lives of over 74 people – 12 of them children. According to acting chief of Joburg emergency medical services Rapulane Monageng, the building was last inspected in 2019, the year it was hijacked.
“We wouldn’t want to go back in there – in a hostile environment… there were tussles [with building hijackers] in between and no one would want to see us come and ... enforce [the law] …in that space,” Monageng said.
The tragedy has once again brought into sharp focus the dangers of building hijackings in the inner city which for decades has snowballed into disaster and a potential threat to national security.
So, what has happened to the task team then? Perhaps a more pertinent question to ask is why the state is not treating this organised crime by syndicates with the same vigour and seriousness as it does to cash-in-transit heists, for example?
A day after the fire downtown Joburg, 18 suspected cash-in-transit robbers were shot dead in Makhado, Limpopo, in what the Hawks said it was a culmination of a major investigation that began in January. This indicates the seriousness to which the state takes the crime.
Monageng’s comments on the hostile environment faced by inspectors in Joburg underscores the city’s capacity shortcomings. It is evident that the problem is far too big to be left in the hands of its hamstrung metro police department. It needs coordinated efforts of all national law enforcement agencies including crime intelligence.
Just six months ago, SA was grey listed for its incapability to deal with complex organised crimes which leads to illicit financial flows. Joburg is often the belly of such criminal activity due to being the economic hub of the country.
Building hijackings, much like other organised crimes such as illegal mining, must be given priority by the national government.
SOWETAN | Building hijacking no less a crime
Image: Antonio Muchave
More than a decade ago, a task team set up to deal with building hijackings in the City of Johannesburg boasted successes of returning 36 buildings in the inner city to their legitimate owners.
At the time, the team made up of police, prosecutors and SARS officials had been at work tracking about 1,500 hijacked buildings in the city. This was part of the city’s attempts to attract investment through rejuvenation and rehabilitation of decaying properties in the CBD.
Fast forward to last week, a fire broke out in a hijacked building and claimed the lives of over 74 people – 12 of them children. According to acting chief of Joburg emergency medical services Rapulane Monageng, the building was last inspected in 2019, the year it was hijacked.
“We wouldn’t want to go back in there – in a hostile environment… there were tussles [with building hijackers] in between and no one would want to see us come and ... enforce [the law] …in that space,” Monageng said.
The tragedy has once again brought into sharp focus the dangers of building hijackings in the inner city which for decades has snowballed into disaster and a potential threat to national security.
So, what has happened to the task team then? Perhaps a more pertinent question to ask is why the state is not treating this organised crime by syndicates with the same vigour and seriousness as it does to cash-in-transit heists, for example?
A day after the fire downtown Joburg, 18 suspected cash-in-transit robbers were shot dead in Makhado, Limpopo, in what the Hawks said it was a culmination of a major investigation that began in January. This indicates the seriousness to which the state takes the crime.
Monageng’s comments on the hostile environment faced by inspectors in Joburg underscores the city’s capacity shortcomings. It is evident that the problem is far too big to be left in the hands of its hamstrung metro police department. It needs coordinated efforts of all national law enforcement agencies including crime intelligence.
Just six months ago, SA was grey listed for its incapability to deal with complex organised crimes which leads to illicit financial flows. Joburg is often the belly of such criminal activity due to being the economic hub of the country.
Building hijackings, much like other organised crimes such as illegal mining, must be given priority by the national government.
Joburg fire sparked by inaction on buildings hijackings
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