Plans are afoot to recapture the city of Mthatha from a syndicate that has hijacked more than 100 buildings.
Government was alerted by the Mthatha Civil Society Forum in October to the hijacking of the buildings, which include a hotel and warehouses.
Now a multi-discipline task team comprising of crime intelligence, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, National Prosecution Authority (NPA) and King Sabata Dalindyebo officials, has been established to recapture the buildings.
The team is expected some time in the new year to sweep on a syndicate that has hijacked the 121 buildings in Mthatha.
The buildings, which are owned by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and the department of public works, are used by the syndicate as rental apartments and for sub-letting.
Public works spokesperson Vuyokazi Mbanjwa said that three of the department’s buildings that have been hijacked are in Mount Pleasant, Grinville and Northcrest.
“In Mount Pleasant there are currently 3,000 illegal occupants. In Grinville there are 40 informal structures plus 13 additional illegal occupants in houses allocated to the department of health,” Mbanjwa said.
She added that the Mount Pleasant property had been hijacked since 2011.
The Mthatha Civil Society Forum blew the whistle on this captured city in a high-powered meeting involving MEC for safety & liaison Weziwe Tikana, with provincial SAPS EC commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga by her side.
At the meeting the forum’s convener Phumelele Madikiza told the police leadership that the people responsible for the hijacking was a gang, run by five men, who are extracting “rents”, selling land illegally and imposing a reign of terror.
On Thursday, the department of safety and liaison spokesman Unathi Binqose said that after the meeting in September the task team was established to look into this problem.
The initial focus will be on ECDC property, with public works properties to be looked at a later stage.
A total of 121 buildings – 113 houses, five offices and three business apartments – have since been identified.
“Plans for an operation to sweep into these illegally occupied properties, recapture them and prosecute where necessary are underway,” Binqose said.
Madikiza said government should move swiftly to deal with the matter.
“These properties are still in the hands of these anarchists. Nothing has changed but we are hoping that something is going to change.
“The department also keeps us updated.
“We also understand that there are cases already in court seeking orders for the buildings to be taken back,” he said.
ECDC acting communication manager Lesley Govender said the corporation was aware of the illegal occupations and was working closely with the department of safety & liaison to deal with the matter.
Govender said the people responsible had started to capture the ECDC buildings in January this year.
“A total of 92 properties have been invaded, made up of the following: 83 residential units turned into blocks of flats, eight warehouses have been invaded and one standalone house,” Govender said...