Metro evicts illegal West businesses
Officials were met with resistance from a group of men who were operating a scrap yard without valid leases with the city and their vehicles were impounded.
The metro recently removed illegal tenants from a Pretoria West building, following eviction notices served last week.
Mayor, dr Nasiphi Moya, says the city is owed over R26-million through its leasing of 12 properties with 35 stands.
The businesses, which were operating illegally, were given a notice that expired on July 12, and on July 15, the officials returned to make sure that all occupants had vacated those properties.
The mayor said, “We closed this shop only to find out these people have been operating in the background. So, we have taken their cars, we are towing them, and they can go collect them from the pound.
“We are clearing this warehouse here. This Nigerian guy has been sending us from pillar to post, and we just want to clean this up. These people are so disrespectful.
“We’ve been giving them notice after notice, and even today, they were hoping we wouldn’t be able to see that they were still operating on this property.
“This is the level of lawlessness that we must clean up so you can have your city back.”
She says officials were met with resistance from a group of Nigerian men who were operating a scrap yard without valid leases with the city.
After they refused to move, TMPD impounded all their vehicles.
Moya says they were hoping officials wouldn’t be back to reclaim the city property.
The warehouse was cleared of over 10 illegally erected shacks, in addition to the businesses operating without permits.
Moya says the effort is part of a broader plan to turn Pretoria West into a manufacturing hub for the city.
“When we say that we want to have Pretoria West become a manufacturing hub, this is what we mean. This is just one property, as you can see how big it is.
“It’s been used by these people all these years; we have not been collecting leases, we have not been collecting money for the electricity or water, and our people have not been using it.
“We are reclaiming this city for you,” Moya said.
MMC for Community Safety, Hannes Coetzee, says these types of operations can be expected across all seven regions.
“People ask what’s happening. By-law enforcement at a high level. We’re taking our city back. We cannot afford any longer for this lawlessness to continue.
“We need to restore this city, ensure the safety of our residents in all seven regions and restore Tshwane as a city of excellence,” Coetzee said.
Watch here:
Last week, there were over 10 shacks in this hijacked building. We’ve cleared this building of illegal occupants and the shacks that littered this spaces. We want to make use of the buildings we’ve reclaimed for social housing and business development. @CityTshwane https://t.co/iz8XGlCNnb pic.twitter.com/4DMVGo7WA2
— Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) July 15, 2025
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