City shuts down gym over illegal occupation
City officials moved in to shut down the Body Conscious Gym in Randburg this week after the operator failed to respond to warnings and continued reconnecting illegal utility services.
The Body Conscious Gym, in the Randburg CBD, has been shut down by the City of Johannesburg after officials found that the business had been illegally occupying a city-owned building.
It was operating without a lease and using municipal water and electricity without payment for nearly a decade.
The closure formed part of a broader high-impact service delivery operation in the Randburg CBD, led by citizen relationship and urban management (Crum) regional director Sello Lemao and MMC Luyiso Masuku, with support from the Johannesburg Property Company, building control officials, and law enforcement agencies.
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Lemao told reporters that the gym had no formal agreement with the city to occupy the premises and that the business being run there was not in keeping with what the building was designated for. He said the operator had also made several unauthorised structural changes to the property without the necessary approvals from the city.
What troubled officials most, however, was the long trail of unpaid bills. According to Lemao, the last recorded payment for services at the property was made in 2017. Since then, the city had received nothing, despite the gym continuing to charge its members and operate as a going concern.
“He does not pay even a cent to the city,” Lemao said. The situation was made worse by what officials described as deliberate reconnections to the electricity and water supply after the city had intervened previously.
Lemao said that, during an earlier visit roughly four weeks ago, officials had removed a meter that did not correspond with city records. They had also given the occupants the opportunity to come forward and regularise their affairs. Neither happened.
“They continued to reconnect themselves, which is a crime.” Lemao added that criminal charges were now being considered against those responsible.
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Masuku confirmed that the cut-offs and the closure of the gym were part of a wider effort to address revenue losses the city was suffering across the Randburg CBD, where several properties in the complex had been identified as harbouring illegal occupants and unpaid service accounts.
Lemao said the Damelin building within the same complex had also drawn the attention of authorities after a lease was found to have been transferred without authorisation, with the original tenant subletting to another business that was no longer operating there.
He said the city intended to secure the gym premises immediately, and that a security presence would be maintained going forward. He added that officials planned to remain in Randburg on a weekly basis until all outstanding issues of illegal occupation and service delivery irregularities in the area had been resolved.
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