City cuts services to hijacked Germiston CBD buildings

The scourge of hijacked buildings in Germiston is costing the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) millions.

CoE, together with EMPD, Germiston SAPS and private security companies visited two of many buildings in the CBD on October 18 to cut services to these buildings.

Occupants of 143 Victoria Street were consuming water and electricity for free and the outside of the building looked abandoned as it was locked.

Its owner bought the property on auction in November 2022 and the plan was to renovate it for accommodation.
The owner has been faced with the challenge of finding tenants since.

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Once EMPD and SAPS forced the doors open after no one responded, people started emerging. Some claimed to be visitors when questioned by the police.

GCN spoke to some of these occupants.

Many said the previous owner told them not to pay rent, which used to be R1 800, as he was involved in a court dispute with his partner.

They said they currently don’t know who owns the building and they have been continuing to stay in the building without paying rent.

The new owner was present during the operation and said he had visited the building twice before. No one admitted to living in the building during these visits hence he was not able to introduce himself as the new owner.

“We are not here to evict people, we are here to cut off services used illegally,” said CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.

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“These buildings will be monitored so if illegal occupants try to reconnect services, the city will be aware,” said Dlamini.

Services to Court Hotel opposite the Germiston Court were also cut off on the day.

Dlamini said this was not the first time this building had been tended to.

“The CoE has disconnected this building a couple of times and they keep reconnecting services illegally.

“People need to stop with illegal connections because they are putting themselves and others in danger,” said Dlamini.

Costs
Dlamini said cut-off operations are a costly exercise for the CoE.

“Every time we have to run the operation CoE needs to pay contractors to cut off the services and that money could be used for other serious service delivery concerns in the city,” said Dlamini.

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“These buildings owe the city millions and when we cut services, CoE is accused of not being fair, but the occupants of these buildings use power and water for free. You cannot use the city’s services and not pay,” said Dlamini.

Most of the hijacked buildings are not safe to live in. Both buildings visited were neglected and damaged due to the lack of maintenance.

The SAPS warned that hijacked buildings can become hotspots area for criminal activities.

Earlier this year council approved a motion to address hijacked buildings.

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Council then resolved to kick off the process of creating punitive rates and an abandonment agreement policy to deal specifically with hijacked and dilapidated buildings in the inner cities.

The finance department created a database of all the properties that are not paying rates and taxes and the real estate department started an audit on council-owned properties to create an updated property asset register.