Johannesburg: The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration Management has prioritised three interventions to address about 2,400 non-compliant buildings across South Africa's metropolitan municipalities, including a national funding model for temporary emergency accommodation. The interventions follow the IMC's consideration of a consolidated report on so-called bad and hijacked buildings across the country's eight metropolitan municipalities.
According to South African Government News Agency, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi stated that the report highlighted existing municipal by-laws, structures, and enforcement processes to tackle hijacked buildings. However, the primary challenge lies in executing court orders for evictions and remediation. Kubayi emphasized that municipalities face constraints at the point of execution because they lack funded temporary emergency accommodation for displaced occupants, a duty confirmed by the Constitutional Court to rest with municipalities.
The report included submissions from several cities, including Johannesburg, Tshwane, eThekwini, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung, and Buffalo City, along with published information from the City of Cape Town. Following discussions with mayors from these metropolitan areas, the IMC resolved to implement three prioritized measures.
The first measure involves developing a national funding model for temporary emergency accommodation, spearheaded by the Department of Human Settlements. The second focuses on prioritizing hijacked-building cases in the Magistrates' and High Courts by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Lastly, the IMC aims to adopt a single national definition and reporting template, coordinated by the Department of Cooperative Governance, to ensure consistent measurement of the problem across all metropolitan municipalities.
The IMC's discussions with mayors also revealed financial and infrastructural strains caused by hijacked buildings, including lost municipal revenue from unpaid rates and excessive resource consumption due to buildings operating beyond approved capacities.
Mayors proposed repurposing underutilised and vacant buildings for student accommodation and affordable rental housing as a preventative measure against inner-city decay and criminal activity prevalent in hijacked buildings. Kubayi noted that the IMC's approach addresses both the buildings' conditions and the criminal networks operating within them.
The IMC reported that many hijacked and abandoned buildings are illegally occupied and used for criminal activities, such as human trafficking, drug dealing, and illicit goods trading. Mayors expressed their support for a coordinated national effort to reclaim hijacked buildings, including joint law enforcement operations and collaboration between relevant government departments.
These measures are part of the broader implementation of President Cyril Ramaphosa's Five-Point Plan on Migration Management, which aims to restore public confidence, strengthen the rule of law, protect South Africa's borders, modernise migration systems, and enhance cooperation with regional and international partners.