Latest news with #TMPD
The Citizen
a day ago
- Business
- 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!
The Citizen
a day ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Re A Spana aims to bring change to Brooklyn streets
The metro claims to have reclaimed public spaces, restored order, and improved service delivery in Brooklyn through its large-scale Re A Spana clean-up and enforcement campaign. This forms part of the strategy to boost service delivery, uniting municipal departments and national partners to tackle urban decay and enforce by-laws in a key local area. Kholofelo Morodi, MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, said the programme shows what is possible when all arms of government work together. 'This is not a once-off campaign, but a systemic shift towards visible, accountable and community-centred governance.' According to Morodi, the metro wants residents to see and feel the change where they live and work. She said Brooklyn was identified as a priority because of its strategic location within Pretoria and its significance as both a residential and commercial hub. Over the years, the suburb has faced challenges including illegal land use, non-compliant businesses, public safety concerns and deteriorating infrastructure. 'The metro deployed a cross-functional team of city departments and Home Affairs to tackle the issues. 'This coordinated effort saw officials repaint road markings, distribute waste bins, clear vegetation, enforce by-laws against illegal businesses, conduct immigration checks with Home Affairs, and carry out fire safety assessments.' Morodi explained that all these interventions were funded within existing regional budgets, ensuring there were no additional costs to the city. 'Re A Spana shows what we can achieve with proper planning and collaboration. This initiative was not about spending more but about using what we already have more effectively,' she said. Morodi said the metro has put in place several measures to sustain and build on the improvements. She said weekly service delivery war room sessions are tracking progress and holding departments accountable for response times. Regional operation centres have been activated to address backlogs such as potholes, water leaks, and streetlight repairs. According to Morodi, a significant backlog in streetlight repairs has been identified in Brooklyn and is now being cleared. 'Road repairs and pothole fixes are also underway to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians.' She confirmed that similar interventions are being rolled out in other parts of the metro. 'We want to send a clear message that the metro is reclaiming spaces that have been neglected or taken over by lawlessness,' she said. 'Re A Spana is a key driver in restoring confidence in the metro's ability to deliver and maintain services. It is about visible governance and operationalising our 100-Day Action Plan.' Among the issues tackled in Brooklyn were unlicensed businesses, undocumented foreign nationals in the hospitality sector, and waste management gaps such as bin shortages and illegal dumping. The campaign also addressed by-law violations and fire safety non-compliance. 'TMPD officers conducted raids on unlicensed businesses and removed illegal trading structures, while Home Affairs officials carried out documentation checks to enforce immigration laws,' Morodi explained. ALSO READ: Man arrested over tampering of power lines in Elandspoort 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!
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
Man arrested over tampering of power lines in Elandspoort
Man arrested over tampering of power lines in Elandspoort Ward 1 councillor, Leon Kruyshaar, has expressed his concern at the ongoing spate of cable theft incidents in the west of Pretoria. This follows the arrest of a 33-year-old suspected of tampering with municipal infrastructure by the Tshwane Metro Police Department's (TMPD) cable theft unit. According to a social media post by the TMPD, said a man was apprehended in Elandspoort in the west of Pretoria, after receiving a tip-off on July 19. 'TMPD members responded to a complaint in Elandspoort. Upon arrival, a suspect was found in the act of tampering with essential infrastructure.' The suspect was arrested and detained at a local police station. Kruyshaar said cable theft continued to be a recurring struggle for the west of Pretoria. He reported that on Van Der Hoff Road near the Zandfontein Substation, four feeders were reported to be down on July 21. 'It's just almost no chance that four feeders go down at the same time. Maybe one, but not four. 'These cables have been stolen on numerous occasions. Just in the last month, I think this is the fourth time they've been stolen. 'This matter needs to be escalated to the cable theft team. We need to make this a priority, stop the cable theft in this area, because it's really an inconvenience to consumers and factories in the area. 'Those who don't have generators either have to close down for the day or work with the inconvenience and suffer financial losses,' Kruyshaar said. Estimations are that South Africa loses more than R500-million every year due to cable theft and vandalism of municipal infrastructure. Residents can report any suspicious behaviour to 012 358 7095/6. Watch here: 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!
The Citizen
16-07-2025
- The Citizen
Metro evicts illegal West businesses
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 — Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) July 15, 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!
The Citizen
11-07-2025
- The Citizen
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… — Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) July 7, 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!
