JOHANNESBURG, Sept 2 (Reuters) – South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday urged authorities to implement laws stopping metropolis residents from unlawfully occupying house blocks, after scores died in a hearth in a Johannesburg constructing that was occupied illegally.
The fireplace, which killed greater than 70 individuals, has highlighted a housing disaster in a metropolis that’s one of the world’s most unequal and the place poverty and unemployment are widespread.
“Local government has to enforce the laws,” Ramaphosa stated at a governing African National Congress social gathering occasion.
“This has given us a wake-up call, and I have said that our cities and municipalities must now pay attention to how people live. We do encourage people to live in the inner city …but we need to do it in accordance with our laws.”
The house block is owned by municipal authorities, however officers stated it was “invaded and hijacked” by unknown teams.
[1/3]A police officer walks previous the house block the place a lethal fireplace broke out, in Johannesburg, South Africa, September 1, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Government officers have stated some of those that died could have been renting from, or have been being extorted by, prison gangs within the so-called “hijacked buildings” syndicates.
Municipal officers have stated efforts to evict residents in illegally occupied buildings are sometimes hamstrung by court docket orders stopping the evictions.
Ramaphosa stated he has requested authorities ministers to look into methods of implementing laws with out violating individuals’s rights.
The gutted constructing is linked to apartheid-era South Africa, because it was the place Black South Africans collected their “dompas” or passbook – paperwork that will allow them to work in white-owned areas of town.
Ramaphosa stated he collected his passbook on the constructing about 50 years in the past, when he labored within the metropolis.
Reporting by Carien du Plessis; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Ros Russell
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