Mayor leads ‘bad buildings' inspection in CBD
The effort formed part of the metro's Reclaim Our City (ROC) initiative, a programme aimed at exhilarating urban renewal and stomping out lawlessness across the metro.
The mayor was joined by members of the Mayoral sub-committee, the TMPD and SAPS as well as the Bad Buildings Committee (BBC), a team tasked with identifying and revitalising hijacked, abandoned and derelict buildings in the CBD and surrounding areas.
On May 22, Moya led the expedition to various identified spots around Pretoria Central and West, where an utter disregard for the metro's by-laws was on full display.
The stakeholders convened on Sophie De Bruyn Street where they visited several spots in the vicinity including illegal scrapyards, make-shift residential premises and non-compliant businesses.
'This is one of those buildings that is owned by the city (Bloed Street), but as you can see, there are shacks inside here. I was here three weeks ago, and then, around 300 people were staying here who were served evacuation notices because it is obviously not safe for people to stay here. As you can see, these used to be shacks and now they've been dismantled, you can see that people have moved out, but there are a couple of them who are still here,' Moya said.
'We are trying to avoid a situation such as the Usindo disaster. We need to prevent it. This is one of the buildings we are targeting. For us, it is the whole block that we want to demolish here and provide this piece of land [for housing]. We do have a housing shortage in our city, and we want to deal with our housing needs and attract businesses to the city,' Moya said.
The mayor said there are, however, processes that need to be followed, so the city cannot simply arrive and demand that occupants leave.
ALSO READ: Tshwane looks to Expropriation Act to take over derelict buildings
She described the tour as a fact-finding exercise, saying that some of the properties where these illegal dealings have been occurring were not known to the city.
The mayor said the TMPD, Building Control and partnering stakeholders will decide the course of action to ensure they are not met with the same sight in a few weeks.
She insisted that the previous figures the BBC have indicated regarding the identified buildings which need attention have increased after her Pretoria West visit.
According to the mayor, the city intends to demolish the entire block to build a housing project similar to the Marabastad Townlands.
To address homelessness, the mayor is calling upon NPOs and social organisations to join the party, insisting that the challenge with relocation is that illegal occupants may not want to conform to the rules at shelters.
Environment MMC Obakeng Ramabodu said that a main issue he observed was the lack of compliance with city by-laws.
'We have a lot of by-laws that many people are not aware of, some are made known, but there are some that only exist on file, so we need to make sure that we implement them,' Ramabodu said.
MMC for Roads and Transport Tlangi Mogale said that among the profiling they completed, illegal occupants consist of both South African and foreign nationals.
'We can confirm that most of the people are foreign nationals, but we do have some South Africans as well. They do form part of the indigent programme of the city, but we don't have a scouting team to find them. However, what we also advise is that they come in and work with our NGOs and NPOs, with which we have partnered and signed MOUs to assist them,' Mogale said.
ALSO READ: Tshwane operation finds hijacked building with over 300 shacks
Mogale said that there are a lot of buildings that the city wants to capitalise on and the BBC allows them to proceed with their plans.
'For the longest time, we haven't been playing our part as the city to capitalise on these buildings. If you go further west of Pretoria, you'll realise that we've got so many hijacked buildings which are losing us a lot of revenue because we've been sleeping on them,' Mogale said.
Spatial Planning MMC Sarah Mabotsa said the demolition plans are necessary as the buildings surveyed are not suitable for human occupation.
'What we're going to do moving [forward] is that we'd like to rezone this building and convert it into low-cost housing. We're trying to address what we call 'Apartheid spatial planning', where people are living far from where they work. If we can rezone this, then people will be able to work and enjoy life here, and this is city property,' Mabotsa said.
'So many people would like to live in the CBD and they can't afford these expensive houses, that's why we've come up with this.'
The stakeholders also visit the Tshwane Events Centre or Pretoria Showgrounds for a clean-up operation of this strategic city asset. The mayor said they are working on plans to host a market in the next few weeks as part of the city's economic revitalisation strategy.
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.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
3 hours ago
- IOL News
ANC appeals to US Democrats to prevent sanctions against its leaders
President Cyril Ramaphosa is at risk of being sanctioned by the US for accusing the Israeli government of committing genocide against Palestine in Gaza. Image: Supplied / GCIS The ANC is pinning its hope on the United States of America's Democrats, who opposed the apartheid government, to protect its leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, from a bill that empowers President Donald Trump to sanction them. ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri revealed this on Wednesday afternoon following news that the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees of the US House of Representatives passed the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025 that would sanction certain ANC members. It is now due to be sent to the full House of Representatives, where parliamentarians will vote for it. Among those who would be victims of the bill is Ramaphosa, who, according to international media, publicly accused the Israeli government of committing genocide against residents of Gaza on October 14, 2023. 'There are many Democrats, including those who were part of the anti-apartheid movements, who will stand up to caution Americans against supporting a president (Trump) who wants to censor and undermine the sovereignty of other nations,' said Bhengu-Motsiri. Next Stay Close ✕ Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANC would vigorously oppose an attempt to isolate it from the rest of the nation by reimposing sanctions against it. 'Remember, we come from a history where sanctions were imposed against the apartheid system. 'But also the ANC was isolated by some of those countries that were working closely with the apartheid government, including the United States,' she said. She was hoping that the bill, which was currently at the proposal stage, would not be passed into law. According to the international media, United States Congressman Ronny Jackson has introduced the bill that seeks to punish the ANC leaders for supporting America's enemies, such as China, Russia, and Iran. 'South Africa has brazenly abandoned its relationship with the United States to align with China, Russia, Iran, and terrorist organisations, a betrayal that demands serious consequences,' Daily Investor quoted Jackson. Certain ANC leaders, who are predicted to be the target of the bill, have been accused of mismanaging South Africa's state resources, which led to the poor performance of state-owned entities such as Eskom, resulting in load shedding, and Transnet's failure to operate train transport. Trump had earlier this year signed an executive order threatening to punish South Africa for Ramaphosa signing the Expropriation Act and Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, which angered Afrikaners who alleged that these laws would strip them of their farming land, destroy their school system and language, and deprive them of employment opportunities. Trump also accused the country of orchestrating the genocide against Afrikaners, whom he gave free entry into his country as refugees. In trying to mitigate the situation, Ramaphosa led a delegation, comprising DA leader John Steenhuisen and senior businessman Johan Rupert, to negotiate with Trump.
Daily Maverick
5 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Watch – Redi Tlhabi & Michela Wrong on Rwanda–DRC peace deal and tensions
Redi Tlhabi speaks with journalist and author Michela Wrong about the murky peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. What's really driving this latest effort: justice, minerals, or Trump's quest for a Nobel Peace Prize? Wrong unpacks the long-standing roots of the conflict, Rwanda's covert military interventions, and the DRC's strategic value in a world desperate for critical minerals. Together, they explore the price of transactional peace, the manipulation of genocide trauma, and the fragile political future of both nations. Michela Wrong has spent more than three decades writing about Africa, working for the likes of Reuters, the BBC, Financial Times, Guardian, New Statesman and Spectator. Her books include 'In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz', the story of Mobutu Sese Seko, 'I didn't do it for you', on Eritrea, 'It's Our Turn to Eat', an examination of Kenyan corruption, and 'Borderlines', a novel set in the Horn. Her latest book, 'Do Not Disturb', is a critique of Rwandan President Paul Kagame's repressive rule.
The Citizen
11 hours ago
- The Citizen
West remains crucial to urban renewal, says metro
According to MMC of Corporate Shared Services Kholofelo Morodi, the metro's broader urban renewal strategy will cover Pretoria West. This follows the evictions of illegal occupants during a targeted operation led by Morodi, who is also the metro's bad buildings committee chairperson. Eviction notices were recently issued to illegal tenants of buildings in the area that belong to the metro. Mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya, had said that the city is owed over R26-million through the leasing of its 12 properties, with 35 stands. Businesses operating illegally were given a notice that expired on July 12, and on July 15, officials were back to ensure all occupants vacated these properties. 'The city-owned precinct had been unlawfully occupied by individuals without valid lease agreements or documentation. In addition to structural neglect and non-payment for services, authorities uncovered a network of illegal electricity connections, posing severe fire hazards and threatening to overload the grid, with implications for citywide energy stability and public safety,' Morodi said. She added that the operation formed part of the bad building committee's mandate to systematically reclaim and reintegrate hijacked, misused and unsafe assets into formal urban development frameworks. The operation was carried out through co-ordination across key departments, including Group Property Management, Group Legal, the city manager's office and the TMPD, among others. Officials received resistance from a group of Nigerian men operating a scrap yard without valid leases. After refusing to move, TMPD impounded all their vehicles. The warehouse was cleared of over 10 illegally erected shacks on top of the business operation without permits. 'The Pretoria West precinct is one of many strategic properties the city will be securing and restoring to operational dignity. These buildings are not just abandoned; they are being repositioned to fuel inclusive growth, job creation, and spatial justice ahead of the Tshwane Investment Summit in September,' Morodi said. The urban renewal strategy is aiming to activate neglected urban spaces, safeguard municipal assets and prepare site-ready zones for catalytic development. 'The city will continue to intensify multi-sectoral operation across all seven regions, reclaiming infrastructure that has been hijacked, repurposed or left to deteriorate and repurposing it,' Morodi said. Residents are encouraged to report illegal electricity use to the city's fraud hotline or email [email protected]. Watch here: City of Tshwane successfully reclaims hijacked City properties in Pretoria West. @CityTshwane — Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) July 17, 2025 Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to [email protected] 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. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
