‘Through this, we can light up the city, accommodate our people and rid the city of informal settlements.’
As controversial as it is, President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Expropriation Act should be used to solve some of Gauteng’s biggest challenges.
Ramaphosa addressed the Joburg city council on Friday to address the challenges in the city ahead of the G20 Summit in November.
Yesterday, Ramaphosa criticised the Gauteng leadership for the city’s conditions, including the CBD’s buildings.
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“Sometimes it’s good to be direct and say it as it is; I should say that one or two meetings of the G20 that I attended here were not very pleasing.
“The environment that one observed was not a pleasing environment. I say this so that we can improve immensely,” Ramaphosa said.
Use Expropriation Act to reclaim buildings
Today, the president called on the provincial government to use the Expropriation Act to reclaim abandoned and hijacked buildings.
He said the buildings could accommodate citizens and rid the province of informal settlements.
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“It is a painful sight to go through the city and see what it has deteriorated to. But it is possible and doable,” said Ramaphosa.
“Today, you have a number of abandoned buildings. Buildings that have been hijacked or not paying rates and taxes. Those buildings can become investment vehicles where we can accommodate our people who can live lives of dignity. We can turn around those abandoned buildings.
“Where the owners have run away, they should be subjected to the law that we’ve passed, the Expropriation Act, even without compensation. The buildings should be taken and turned into living accommodation.
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“It falls wonderfully under the interpretation of our constitution and the law – it would be for the useful purpose of our people. Through this we can light up the city, accommodate our people and rid the city of informal settlements.”
‘Buildings being reclaimed’
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said in an interview on SABC on Thursday night that reclaiming abandoned buildings was a challenge due to the legal processes involved.
He said most of the buildings in the Johannesburg CBD had been completely abandoned by their owners. Now they are hijacked and those who live in them cannot just be evicted.
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“The national government is not even aware that they own some of those buildings because the recording system is in bad shape. It’s not only them, there are buildings that were left by business people. When you call them and say you own this building, they say ‘Oh, I still have that building?’.
“That’s the challenge that we’re facing. This is why they end up being hijacked. The majority of buildings in Johannesburg have been completely abandoned. But we have to go through legal processes. We now have 10 that we’re bringing back and we’ve got two court orders that are giving us back buildings.
“There is a law that says if you evict someone that has hijacked a building and you want to win over that building, you must find alternative accommodation for them and give them water – we can’t do that alone.”
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He said the president had now enabled collaboration to ensure all government departments work together to address the city’s challenges.
