Shacks and stolen services exposed in West

Undocumented immigrants, hijacked buildings, and a lack of compliance with by-laws were some of the issues noted during Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya’s recent walkabout in Pretoria West.

The walkabout, which took place on July 7, was led by Moya, after ward councillors Malesela Rakabe (Ward 3) and Conride Ngoveni (Ward 58) called on her to address the plight of lawlessness, illegal connections and the lack of service delivery that residents face in the area.

The mayor, councillors and metro officials, accompanied by TMPD officers, visited areas between Court Street and Es’kia Mphahlele Drive.

During the walkabout, a spaza shop, an illegal laundry facility, an egg depot, and a scrap yard, operating without the authorisation of the city, were shut down.

Properties containing make-shift shacks were also uncovered. These properties are home to tenants who use the metro’s water and electricity illegally.

“Every utility is illegally connected from water to electricity.

“The houses have been illegally extended to accommodate a tuck shop, laundry facility and an egg business. After closing down the illegal laundry facility and the spaza shop, we moved on to a property housing over 20 shacks. Tenants pay between R1 500 and R2 000 for a room,” Moya said.

She also said that after they closed down the egg depot, they were met with a convergence of immigrants aggrieved by the decision to close down the business for non-compliance, which resulted in eight people being arrested.

“These properties in Pretoria West are another example of the lawlessness in this city. The landlord of these buildings has been stealing our water and electricity for years. We’ve disconnected all the illegal connections. The tenants are billed monthly for water and electricity, but those funds aren’t paid to the city. The same landlord owns an unsafe apartment block that was built without city approval.

“We’ve received a court judgment to demolish that apartment block. We issued by-law contravention notices for these two properties today. One scrap yard dealership has been fined before for building a very high wall without city approval. We issued a second contravention today,” Moya said.

The owners of the scrap yard, building a structure inside without city approval, ran away through a second exit, while the officials asked for the gates to be opened. The yard extends onto two properties.

Ward 3 councillor Malesela Rakabe said the mayor’s visit went beyond hijacked buildings, and added that the service delivery pressure points of Pretoria West are vast.

Rakabe is responsible for Kwaggasrand, West Park, Proclamation Hill, Pretoria West, and parts of Philip Nel, where he is being inundated with complaints from residents who feel the metro has neglected their area.

“If you go to Kwaggasrand, West Park and Proclamation Hill, you’ll realise that the roads are almost undrivable, so we need attention in terms of road resurfacing. Tree pruning is another thing that is not given much attention. There are always power outages caused by the tripping of the lines because trees are not pruned, and there are also issues with the Kraai Substation that need to be refurbished, so we don’t have power outages.

“It’s part of the budget for this financial year, there’s a commitment from the MMC of Utilities that it will be refurbished, and we’re confident that it will be done as soon as possible,” Rakabe said.

He adds that Proclamation Hill residents, particularly those located on Lievaart Street, have been complaining about a foul odour emanating from the nearby stream between 16:00 and 20:00.

The officials also visited municipal flats in Proclamation Hill, where Rakabe describes the conditions occupants are living in as ‘inhumane’.

“We went about and realised that there are a lot of illegalities affecting Pretoria West, and it needs attention. The municipality and the metro police will never be able to solve them alone.

“We need Home Affairs, SARS, and an entire multidisciplinary operation,” he said.
“It is not only the hijacked buildings, but also water and electricity that they use for free, which belong to the municipality. They have illegally connected to everything, and they make and sell counterfeit products, expired products.”

Rakebe said at one point they had to leave an area because there was an intimidating group of people.

“It wasn’t even an operation, just a walkabout,” he insisted.

He said they also frequently come across illegally erected buildings that do not appear on the municipal system and urges residents to comply with the metro’s by-laws or face the ramifications.

After the day’s event, officials say they will consolidate their findings and take the appropriate steps against the targeted problems.

Watch here:

Good morning Tshwane. We are in Pretoria West. We have been directed to this area by the ward Cllr for Ward 3, Malesela Rakabe. We are currently at hijacked City of Tshwane residential properties. The properties are all occupied by Somalians and Ethiopians. Every utility is… pic.twitter.com/1X4gSGEk8W

— Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) July 7, 2025

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok.