The Mayoral Sub-Committee on Bad Buildings recently held a targeted operation in Sunnyside and the inner city.

The purpose of the operation, held on December 9, was to visit several properties that are indebted to the city and will be subject to closure.

Chairperson of the committee and MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, Kholofelo Morodi, said that, as part of the second phase of the committee’s mandate, the visits were conducted to clamp down on buildings in the CBD that were illegally using municipal services.

“The buildings that we are looking at are buildings that owe the city large amounts of money in terms of rates and taxes.

“The ones that are not paying for water and electricity, as well as the ones that have been built without approved building plans, or have been left to be dilapidated and abandoned,” Morodi said.

“As you know, we are bringing in a Problem Building By-law. This by-law is going to help us deal with owners who have abandoned their buildings or have allowed their buildings to become dilapidated,” she said.

The MMC and committee were joined by the Inter-Departmental By-Law Enforcement Committee (IBEC) and TMPD, as they visited a total of six properties and disconnected services where necessary.

The second phase of the Bad Buildings Committee involves moves beyond the initial CBD corridor to include areas from Steve Biko Road to Bourke Street, covering the area from Sunnyside east to Pretoria West, and from Es’kia Mphahlele to Quagga roads.

The metro plans to use various law-enforcement methods, including forcing the sale of properties through the courts, expropriation where necessary, and demolishing illegal structures built without approved plans.

The new Problem Building and Property Management By-Law was officially passed in Council in the third quarter of this year.

The by-law empowers the city to secure, repair or demolish problematic buildings, evict occupants in high-risk situations, fine negligent owners, and potentially even expropriate properties.

At one of the stops, an apartment building in Sunnyside, Morodi described the condition as ‘awful’ and said that properties such as those, as well as the ones visited, are reasons why the by-law was put in place.

“The rot in Sunnyside runs too deep. We have received reports about bad buildings in the Sunnyside area. We’ve pounced on the owners; some even owe us close to a million.

“Electricity has been disconnected. A concerning culture of lawlessness seems to be picking up, where people who don’t work for the city seem to be impersonating city employees, wearing our work suits with CoT logos,” Morodi said.

To report bad buildings, send an email to bpcontraventions@tshwane.gov.za. Please note this email address is only for reporting illegal buildings.

Watch here: https://x.com/i/status/1998329769226568122.

The rot in Sunnyside runs too deep

This is Waterhof Apartments in Sunnyside the look and feel of the building itself is just awful. The Problem Building ByLaw is intended for this purpose – it gives the City power to go after property owners who own these dilapidated… https://t.co/7qTdcLyFKD pic.twitter.com/QIN7JzDeNy

— Kholofelo Morodi (@kholofeloMorodi) December 9, 2025

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