Govan Mbeki flattens illegal shops

eMBALENHLE – Govan Mbeki Municipality has begun to demolish shops that belong to Somalis and Ethiopians that were illegally built on residential stands without approved plans.

Four were bulldozed in Extension 15 and 16 on Wednesday, 23 July and one was demolished on Thursday, 24 July.

This is an ongoing operation.

People looted some of the shops and nobody has yet been arrested.

Municipal senior officials and police officers held a meeting with the owners who began building shops on 16 June to inform them about the demolition, but they were apparently ignored.

Mr Joseph Mhlongo, chairman of the local Community Policing Forum, said some of the owners walked out of the meeting.

“This is not about xenophobia, but we want them to comply with the law.”

Mr Mhlongo said these owners violated the agreement that they had with them in 2009 that they should not continue to build more shops, because they fight among one another for customers.

Some of the owners also trade until late, which attracts criminals.

Others do not have trading permits.

Mr Mhlongo said they have encouraged foreign shop owners in the past to stick to their trading hours and to refrain from keeping large sums of money on their premises.

They also asked them to not sleep inside their shops, because it is unsafe and unhealthy.

Mr Henry Masango, head of Marketing and Communications of the municipality, said the flattening of the shops is not targeted at a specific grouping of people.

This is an operation to clear buildings that are contravening the land use management scheme of the municipality and the national building regulations and building standards since they do not have approved building plans.

Mr Masango said these shops are also built on the municipal servitude and they affect the aesthetic of the environment, access to positioned infrastructure network such as sewer lines and most of them are obstructing the traffic flow.

“Several engagements were held with these affected property owners and this was also followed by formal correspondences advising them about their transgression, but to no avail.

“Other extensions have been served with 14 days’ notices to correct the situation so as to avoid the same fate.”

Some of the owners are seeking legal advice with the intention of suing the municipality.