JOHANNESBURG – The City of Johannesburg has returned three hijacked buildings to their original owners, Mayor Herman Mashaba stated this morning.
Mashaba stated in a statement that the handover of the properties took place on Monday night. The two properties are situated at Kenilworth and Turffontein.
“The handover of the properties follows months of investigations by the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service Department working together with the South African Police Department (SAPS),” Mashaba said.
“It is alleged that the properties were hijacked last year and that the rightful owners were denied access. After months of trying to evict the hijackers and their tenants without success, the owners approach GFIS in August this year for assistance.”
Arrests have been made based on the hijacking of properties in Johannesburg. A couple also appeared in court after they were arrested during a downtown raid and were denied bail.
“I am happy that we are not only conducting the raids on hijacked and has properties but we are also arresting those that are involved in the hijackings and returning the properties to their rightful owners,” Mashaba added.
In the investigation conducted by the city, it was found that there are about 500 bad buildings in the city, 134 of which were confirmed to be hijacked as well as the 24 belonging to the city.
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