Gauteng & CoJ govts have failed to come up with plans to deal with hijacked buildings - DA

JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng said that the Johannesburg and provincial governments had failed to come up with a feasible plan on tackling abandoned and hijacked buildings. 

This follows yet another deadly fire this past weekend in Jeppestown, where four people died after a hijacked building caught fire in the CBD. 

The incident comes a few days before the one-year anniversary of the Usindiso Building fire in Marshalltown, where 77 people died after a hijacked building was gutted. 

DA provincial spokesperson on human settlements, Mervyn Cirota, said that the latest incident showed that both the Gauteng and the City of Joburg governments had done nothing since the Usindiso tragedy to prevent similar tragedies.  

"These parties have failed to develop a feasible plan to tackle the housing challenge in the inner city. This has resulted in the hijacking of buildings that are unconducive to live in, posing a safety and health risk for the inhabitants. The continuous incidents of fires and unnecessary deaths due to the absence of an effective remedy are concerning and point to a lack of a definite path ahead."