Hijacked, abandoned, dilapidated buildings, and shacks have become home for many families in Gauteng in recent decades as the province is increasingly under threat of overpopulation.
Frustrations and fears over shady crime-ridden buildings have led to many resorting to land grabs to build or install their structures.
Many low-income, unemployed, and disadvantaged people have taken over Gauteng’s vacant land and dilapidated buildings in the cities and towns to have a shelter over their heads.
This is where thousands of people including children, women, and disabled children live without water and sanitation facilities, as well as electricity, and safety.
Residents blame the government for its inability and failure to provide adequate housing for the people who are struggling to survive.
Kempton Park, Johannesburg, and the Vaal have become the hotspots for hijacked buildings.
Johannesburg, the used-to-be “world-class city”, has now turned into a squatter city with a large number of people living in hijacked and illegal buildings.
Inside these buildings, privacy and safety are not guaranteed as many of the units are divided by boards, curtains, and wooden walls.
Both South Africans and foreign nationals live in these life-threatening conditions, crowded with their families.
Last year in August, a fire ripped through the Usindiso Ministries for Women and Children, a five-storey building in the Johannesburg CBD, killing at least 77 people.
This exposed the problem of hijacked buildings in the City of Joburg.
It is believed that criminal syndicates have hijacked at least 50 state-owned buildings in the Johannesburg CBD. Some of the residents live there free of charge but others do pay for their units.
In Boksburg, an area in the east of Joburg, 17 people were confirmed dead at the Angelo informal settlement last year, following nitrate inhalation believed to be associated with illegal mining activities in the area.
Land in Glen Austin near Rabie Ridge in Midrand was recently invaded to build shacks “out of desperation for accommodation”.
One of the residents, Musa Liliba, told IOL that they had no choice but to utilise the land because they desperately needed housing.
“See we don’t have any money for rent, we only use the little that we have for food and nothing else,” he said.
Liliba admitted that some people were renting out their units to make money for themselves while others were erecting shacks for immediate accommodation.
Over 1,000 shacks have been constructed in the area.
This is as South Africans are heading to national and provincial elections on May 29.
Meanwhile, last week, MEC for Human Settlements Lebogang Maile, visited Diepkloof Hostel following a violent protest by residents over the state of their homes.
Addressing the media after the walkabout into the units, Maile said infrastructure backlog was a major problem but to say the government is not trying to solve the issue was a bit of a stretch to make it as the government was not willing to provide houses.
He added since 1994, the government has built more than 1.3 million houses free for the people.
He mentioned that the population was growing and the need for more housing was also increasing.