[This letter was published in Tuesday, September 5 edition of the Cape Argus newspaper]
The deaths of almost 80 people in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, was foreseeable.
The chaos is a result of the failure of a few people who were paid to do their duty. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s words, “we are all responsible for the calamity that has unfolded”, are a sad excuse, as those who are liable can be identified.
First, who owns the building and allowed it to be hijacked and become a death trap?
Media reports suggest that the Johannesburg City Council is liable for the building and failed to implement a management strategy for years, which led to the building being hijacked. We must examine who caused the management failure and hold them liable. It must be a councillor or an official, as someone had to sign off on documents.
The claim that nobody knows who is liable is untrue and is one of the reasons why South Africa is drowning in chaos.
How do we find the councillor or official responsible?
There are public records that detail who held political power. We need to identify the MMC and line department officials involved in management and get the media to investigate why the building was allowed to deteriorate.
Second, who were the hijackers who collected the illegal rent? Those who paid rent and lost family members know who they paid, as the collector was a human being. The South African taxpayer spends billions of rand annually on a “Secret/Intelligence Service” and God knows who else to keep our nation safe.
Is the murder of 76 Africans not important enough to inspire a search for the building hijackers?
Citizens want to know if the building hijackers are local or foreign criminals, or if they are local politicians or officials who are benefiting.
Nothing is impossible in a nation where a man who burns down our Parliament at a cost of R2 billion cannot be prosecuted due to mental health issues.
If we are expected to believe that nobody is liable for burning down Parliament, then we can believe anything.
Third, how did so many illegal immigrants arrive in South Africa and build shacks inside or on top of an existing building without anyone noticing? In Cape Town, you need an architect and town planner to build.
Does Johannesburg have different building codes?
Fourth, where did the illegal immigrants work, and do immigration officials not operate in Johannesburg?
Fifth, what about the other hijacked buildings? Do we wait for them to burn down before we watch politicians blame others and shed crocodile tears again?
Finally, why are law enforcement and our judiciary afraid to protect local taxpayers from local and foreign criminals who hijack buildings? Is it because the people who are being exploited are poor and black?
If a few rich white people had been burnt alive in a building, would the reaction have been different?
Do black lives matter in Africa, or is it acceptable for black leaders to abuse their own people?
* Councillor Yagyah Adams, Cape Muslim Congress.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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