The City of Joburg has demolished 15 illegal structures in Small Street in the Joburg CBD.
The demolition forms part of an ongoing high-impact service delivery operation aimed at reclaiming public spaces and restoring order in the inner city.
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The operation, which started on Monday, 11 May and continued on Tuesday, 12 May, was led by mayor Dada Morero alongside members of the mayoral committee and senior city officials.
According to the city, the demolitions form part of broader efforts to enforce by-laws, tackle illegal trading, improve environmental health and strengthen crime prevention measures in the inner city.
The city said Small Street, once regarded as one of the CBD’s busiest and most vibrant areas, has over the years become congested with illegal structures and informal activity.
Speaking to the media, Morero said the operation is linked to the city’s programme of reclaiming and rejuvenating the inner city.
“It’s part of our programme of by-law enforcement. As we said, we’re implementing our programme of reclaiming the inner city.
“We’re happy that post the G20, we’re re-igniting, we’re re-activating and doing the work to assure the residents that our programme is by-law enforcement, crime prevention, cleaning and cleanliness of the city,” said Morero.
He said the city intends to sustain operations in the area until order is restored before moving to other problem buildings in the CBD, including Marble Towers.
Morero added that Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department officers will remain stationed in the area to prevent people from rebuilding the demolished structures.
“We’ve also engaged with the facilities management company that has been running this facility this morning and they’re also quite happy with the work that they’ve seen,” he said.
The mayor also revealed that the city is investigating claims that some of the structures may have been approved around 2010.
“We still are waiting for proper paperwork to confirm that they were legally approved and the process was in accordance with our by-laws. Should we find out that they were fraudulently approved, then there will be action and immediately we’ll remove these structures,” he said.
Morero said even if some structures were legally approved, illegal extensions attached to them would still be demolished.
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“Some of the extensions that we did see, I know that those extensions are illegal by just looking at them.
“So those ones will then be removed immediately, whether the structures are legal or illegal,” he said.
