A joint High Impact Service Delivery operation involving several City of Johannesburg departments has drawn fresh attention to a hijacked property in Ferndale.

Building inspector Kithue Masu, who works for the city in Randburg, said the Ferndale property was the last and most troubling stop of the day during the multi-department initiative.

“There was one in Ferndale in particular; it was a hijacked building; it was the last property that we attended to,” Masu said.

Read more: The hijacked house caught fire.

Masu explained that properties usually reach this state after the original owners abandon them, adding that while Ferndale remains a desirable area, occupants of derelict buildings are causing it to become run-down.

What inspectors found on the property went beyond the main house. Several Wendy houses were crammed onto the stand, turning a single residential site into shelter for an entire community.

“They had an entire community on said property, and they changed the density zoning from a family of one to a congregation, multiple families,” Masu said.

Masu said inspectors are limited in what they can do once a property reaches this point because the law protects both officials and occupants.

“As much as we might go there and issue notices, the law protects everyone, both us and them,” Masu said.

Notices make little practical difference on an abandoned property, she added, since there is no owner left to hold accountable and no rates are being paid.

“Issuing notices to an abandoned property doesn’t change the fact that it’s abandoned and the owner is not even paying rates,” Masu said. “So how do you deal with a property when no one wants to take ownership? We have nowhere to house these people.”

Also read: Tackling hijacked buildings and illegal foreigners

Masu said the city usually learns about hijacked properties either through routine drive-by assessments or when nearby residents notice changes. She warned that once a property is hijacked, no one can be held accountable for what happens inside, creating conditions where serious crime can take hold.

“It ends up being environments where people can run drug dens, prostitution rings, anything,” he said. “Extortion rings. How do we deal with that when the law limits us to this space sphere?”

City Power’s Revenue Protection unit also took part in the operation. Electrician Sindani Mathebula said the Ferndale property had been visited before, and occupants went to considerable lengths to restore power after their supply was cut off.

“This is a hijacked building, last time we were here and cut their electricity off, and today we discovered that they had somehow connected a supply from elsewhere, but we have disconnected them,” Mathebula said.

The Ferndale case shows the scale of the challenge facing the city. Even coordinated action by several departments in a single day struggles to permanently resolve a hijacked property when no legal owner can be held responsible, and no alternative housing exists for residents.

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates!