Joburg's looming tragedy: Kunene's raid on a dangerous hijacked building
Acting mayor Kenny Kunene, city power officials and law enforcement officers raided a dilapidated and hijacked building at 242 Marshalltown in Joburg CBD on Tuesday.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela/ IOL
The uSindiso Building tragedy is poised to repeat itself as Joburg City officials, led by acting mayor Kenny Kunene, encountered hazardous conditions during an unexpected raid, including live electric wires, makeshift shacks, unattended children, and the foul stench of sewage, alongside a makeshift crèche.
Makeshift cracked ceiling corridors were choked with the stench of raw sewage and rotting refuse, punctuated by shards of broken windows that cast bleak shards of daylight onto wooden shacks.
Inside the dilapidated and hijacked building in Marshalltown, Johannesburg.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela/IOL
In this settlement—reportedly home to hundreds—children played unsupervised in dimly lit hallways, while a derelict crèche, cobbled together from shredded curtains and plywood, housed minors far too small to navigate such peril.
Nearby, an illegal spaza shop operated on the third floor, its single, flickering bulb illuminating dusty shelves stacked with items of unknown expiry dates.
Kunene, city power officials and law enforcement officers raided a dilapidated and hijacked building at 242 Marshalltown in Joburg CBD on Tuesday.
A spaza shop inside a dilapidated and hijacked building in Johannesburg.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela/IOL
The raid will continue on Wednesday. Kunene told journalists that this was the beginning of many more raids to come.
Over 15 undocumented foreigners were arrested and taken for processing. Some were found in possession of ID documents suspected to be fake.
He stated that going forward, the hunt will focus on illegal immigrants, saying they will be deported to their countries.
“It is the reason why we are inspecting these buildings, why we are raiding these buildings. Remember that the city has mentioned that EMS has already done an inspection. There's a report already on this building that this building must be evacuated.
“People must be evacuated. This building is unsafe. So the lawlessness that we are seeing in the buildings that are hijacked leads to even these illegal crashes under inhumane conditions,” he said.
Live electric wires snacked across the erected shacks.
Image: Kamogelo.Moichela/IOL
Joburg CBD, especially Marshalltown, has turned into a home for many people including illegal foreigners.
In 2023, a fire gutted uSindiso building in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, which resulted in the deaths of at least 76 people, leaving many injured.
IOL