Johannesburg - Herman Mashaba, the man who championed the fight against hijacked buildings during his tenure as Joburg mayor, wants the state to be held responsible for the violent death of more than 70 people who perished in a fire in a building owned by the City of Joburg.
Mashaba, the former DA mayor and now leader of ActionSA, had through his tenure as Joburg mayor tried to reclaim some of the buildings in the Joburg CBD, Hillbrow, Yeoville and other parts of the city but was met with resistance from several human rights bodies, including political parties who accused him of xenophobia.
At the time, Mashaba complained that these buildings were captured by foreigners who were not paying rates and services to the City but were forcing their tenants to pay rent to unscrupulous landlords.
In one of the remarkable cases against Mashaba, an alleged building hijacker Jonathan Constable accused Mashaba of abusing the justice system.
Constable made the remarks during his bail application in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court in January 2018.
At the time, Constable said: “I’m very disappointed at someone of the calibre of Mr Mashaba. He has been making irresponsible media statements, claiming that I am a kingpin of hijacked buildings and that I am wanted in other provinces."
He was arrested, he said, while trying to track down the rightful owner of two buildings he was accused of hijacking.
Constable was facing charges of theft and fraud, along with co-accused Bongani Khathide and Kingsley Okwebi.
Constable and Khathide were applying for bail, while Okwebi, at the time, wanted to make representation to the State.
The African Diaspora Forum (ADF) also laid a complaint against Mashaba at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), accusing him of xenophobia.
In their complaint, the forum said: “During his various speeches directed at international immigrants, the first citizen of the City of Johannesburg put a special emphasis on undocumented immigrants who he accused of hijacking some buildings in the Johannesburg CBD which they littered and transformed into a jungle.
“When the South African masses saw the executive mayor wearing the metro police gear and acting as an immigration officer checking the validity of permits of immigrants in a bid to find undocumented migrants in the streets of Rosettenville‚ this act served as an impetus for the people at the local grass roots to attack immigrants from other African countries residing in Rosettenville‚” the forum claimed.
In October 2019, Mashaba quit as DA mayor over a race row in the party but continued to campaign for the return of buildings of the city.
Four years later, 74 people perished in the fire in a hijacked building whose original owner is the City of Joburg.
Commenting on the carnage, Mashaba said ActionSA was heartbroken by the death of more than 70 people in the devastating building fire in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, and believes that the state should be charged with culpable homicide as the blaze could easily have been avoided.
“For more than three years as mayor of the City of Johannesburg Mayor, I repeatedly warned about the dangers hijacked buildings pose to the people living in them, and that they are a disaster waiting to happen.
“I attempted to reclaim more than 400 of these buildings to provide dignified social housing.
“But, instead of receiving support from the provincial or national government to ensure no person lives in squalor, I was obstructed at every corner while non-profit organisations blocked attempts in court to have people removed from unsafe living conditions,” he said.
Mashaba said ActionSA believes that in 29 years of democracy it was completely unacceptable that people were forced to live in buildings which were unsanitary and clear fire danger while they were illegally extorted by mafia-like landlords.
“The South African government should take responsibility for bringing the City of Johannesburg to a situation where lawlessness is allowed to proliferate, and should take urgent action to avoid similar incidents from happening in other buildings in the city.
“ActionSA is committed to addressing the nationwide issue of hijacked buildings and will present solutions to this crisis at our upcoming policy conference from 12 to 14 September.
“No country can flourish where lawlessness flourishes, and ActionSA is committed to returning the rule of law to all our communities. Our people, as we have seen in Marshalltown today, simply deserve better,” Mashaba said.