By-law operation uncovers TMPD, SANDF uniforms and firearm in Danville property

The Tshwane metro this week closed down an early childhood development centre (ECD) in Ward 60, Danville, west of Pretoria, after discovering that it was operating on hijacked land.

Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya led a by-law operation on June 17, supported by members of the Mayoral Committee and relevant authorities.

Moya said in previous weeks, the stakeholders were conducting inspections and issuing notices in the area. Now, they are returning with law enforcement and reclaiming properties.

“We were here last week, and we spoke about this property. This property is hijacked. The person living here, their family and everything happening in this property are illegal. There is no lease agreement with the city, and they are not paying for electricity or water; they have connected illegally,” Moya said.

“The level of lawlessness is unacceptable. What is concerning is that it’s an ECD centre.”
She said there were six children when they arrived. The person in charge did not have any legal papers to run the centre.

“At the back, there is some sort of second-hand shop happening because there are cars, fridges and couches. What’s sad is that we, as the city, have allowed this to happen for so long.”

Officials from various departments issued eviction notices to the inhabitants of the property.

Moya said the make-shift centre is but a drop in the ocean regarding the issues the area faces.

She said they have found items suspected of being used in crimes: a TMPD uniform, a SANDF uniform, a fake gun, knives and laptops.

A person has been arrested, she added.

“There are properties of the city that we will be checking the paperwork for. We’ve already found another fraudulent document.”

“There is crime intelligence work that has been done here in terms of drugs and substance abuse that has contributed to this,” Moya said.

All the children have since been reunited with their parents. The crèche will no longer be allowed to operate on a city-owned property.

MMC for Corporate and Shared Services and Chairperson of Mayoral Bad Buildings Sub-Committee Kholofelo Morodi said that the scenes they were met with were disheartening.

“There is nothing more disheartening than seeing our people serving as enablers for illegal activities perpetuated by people who are in the country illegally.”

Morodi said that when they asked a man (who is an illegal immigrant) what he was doing on municipal property, the man couldn’t give them a satisfactory answer.

In another stop following the ECD centre closure, a nearby corner store was also shut down for illegally producing its own water.

MMC for Finance and Deputy-Mayor, Eugene Modise, said that the metro would take swift legal action against the owners, following the confiscation of the machinery used at the store.

“We have come across this bottled water machine in this store. We’re going to close the shop and we’re going to take these machines as well,” Modise said.

He added that the owners did not pay for electricity or water.

The shop was part of a business property block owned by the city. The businesses were allegedly paying rent to a fraudulent landlord.

Stakeholders also found counterfeit cigarettes and a fake lease contract.

A butchery was shut down for selling expired meat and was issued with a range of contravention notices and fines.

A U-Save supermarket that was operating without a permit was also closed down and won’t be reopening until they have a valid licence.

A mini-casino operating from a property was also closed down. It was operating without a licence.

Moya said the people ran away as officials approached.

The mayor said the level of lawlessness noted during the by-law operation is unacceptable.

“This is not the last time we will be here,” Moya said, adding that they will continue this work.

“What saddens me is how relieved the residents here are because they have been terrorised by the illegal activities happening in this area. There is a big drug problem in this area. There are drug dealers who are hiding here, who move to this area to sell drugs. We are told on the weekends, this community is ungovernable because of the lawlessness that’s happening,” she said.

We held a successful by-law enforcement operation in Danville today. We closed down an illegal ECD operating from a City owned property. We’ve also shutdown U-Save, an illegal casino and a butchery selling expired meat. The amount of lawlessness in this city can’t be tolerated.… pic.twitter.com/Mvqx4uPAq1

— Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) June 17, 2025

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