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Municipalities across Gauteng have embarked on a series of demolitions targeting illegal informal structures and unregulated settlements.
That, they said, was to bring order, remove congestion and deal with crime where these structures are.
On Sunday, Ekurhuleni city officials demolished shacks that were occupied by undocumented foreigners and illegal miners. The demolition continued in the following days in Joburg as well as in Tembisa where hundreds of structures were removed.
Here’s what you need to know about the recent operations and the reasons behind them.
On May 11 and 12, executive mayor Dada Morero led operations to demolish 23 illegal structures and makeshift stalls constructed on pavements in the Johannesburg CBD. They were said to be causing overcrowding and had become havens for criminals.
During the operation, Johannesburg metro police removed illegal traders and demolished unlawfully built structures, including shacks built on pavements along Small, Pritchard and Rahima Moosa streets.
According to Morero, traders had been warned months earlier to leave and relocate their businesses to more suitable locations, but some failed to comply.
“We are bringing order, and the movement of people is now free,” said Morero.
He added that the operation would continue throughout the year. The operation, he said, is part of the city’s broader programme aimed at enforcing municipal bylaws, removing illegal structures, improving environmental health and restoring the dignity, safety and functionality of Johannesburg’s inner city.
On Sunday, Ekurhuleni, which demolished 286 structures and arrested 110 undocumented migrants, said demolitions at the Chief Albert Luthuli informal settlement in Benoni would continue as part of efforts to clamp down on illegal mining.
“During the operation, it was found that the initially relocated households have either been forcefully removed, were renting to foreigners or illegal miners, or voluntarily moved out,” said Ramatolo Tlotleng, spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni mayor.
On Tuesday, more demolitions happened in Tembisa when the Ekurhuleni metro police, working alongside human settlements officials, demolished 300 shacks and confiscated building materials. Authorities said the operation was conducted in accordance with a 2022 Johannesburg high court order directing occupants to remove illegal structures.
On Wednesday MMC for human settlements Mlungisi Mabaso was expected to demolish more than 200 informal structures obstructing an electrification project at the Kharada informal settlement, west of Johannesburg.
During the verification and demolition process, officials discovered that more than half of the approximately 4,000 residents living in the settlement were undocumented foreign nationals.
According to Mabaso, about 1,800 residents were verified as South African citizens, while roughly 2,200 were identified as foreigners.
“If we were to identify alternative land for relocation, it would mean we are accommodating foreign nationals, and that is not what we are going to do,” Mabaso said.
He added that the settlement had become heavily congested, delaying development and service delivery projects intended for South Africans living in the area.
Sowetan
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