Human Settlements Minister, Tokyo Sexwale, has declared war on building hijackers, vowing to bring an end to the criminal underworld, which has seen a rise in illegal occupation of buildings.
“We are coming for building hijackers; we are going to make sure that the law takes its course, we are sitting with the Hawks and Bheki Cele to see how we can deal with this issue,” said Sexwale during the launch of Cavendish Chambers housing project in the Johannesburg inner city today.
Sexwale added that the Cavendish Chambers launch was part of his department’s reclaiming the city’s buildings. “Ours is to bring back the confidence into the inner city by reclaiming the space inch by inch, street by street block by block, building a truly non-racial South Africa,” he said.
The R33 million project is targeted at middle-income earners (those people who do not qualify for a government subsidy nor earn enough to qualify for a bank loan). The once-dilapidated building affords people a place to call home closer to areas of work and school.
The building was reclaimed from building hijackers, refurbished and opened for occupancy in October this year.
Government has to date spend over R150 million into similar projects by refurbishing of dilapidated buildings in the inner city in order to begin to integrate society.
Enquiries:
Mandulo Maphumulo
Cell: 079 699 5145
Source: Department of Human Settlements
