a recent tragedy in South Africa has drawn attention to the country's housing crisis
70 people died in the incident last month in Johannesburg when a fire
GED what's known as a hijacked building many of the country's poor live in such
rown properties which are taken over and controlled by armed gangs DW correspondent
Diane Hawker gained rare access to some of these hijacked buildings in Johannesburg
and sent us this report and then just be careful yeah this is a she that's
the this used to be a hospital now it's squatted City officials are inspecting it as part of a
drive to crack down on illegal landlords dozens of people including families live here unable
to find cheap accommodation elsewhere in the inner city it's dark damp and it stinks it's
clear that refu has not been collected for a long long time the building is home to many children
and just two months ago two died in a fire but those who live here want to stay because it's
so hard to find anything else in the inner city I we are totally unhappy about what the government
is doing the Department of Housing should find a solution to this problem we want them to reconnect
our electricity and we are not leaving this place they pay as much as half of their monthly income
for cramped and unsafe dirty spaces many of the hijack buildings in the city of Johannesburg are
municipal owned properties in some instances like with the casamia building behind me the buildings
have been taken over by criminal syndicates who have intimidated Municipal security and gained
access forcefully police don't usually enter this area it's an unofficial no-go Zone they
say criminals use as a hideout officials say this audit could help return the hijacked and occupied
buildings to their legal owners we had tenants in this building that was paying R to to the city we
then were in the process of refurbishing the the the building and we had relocated the current
tenants to another place and in that process Co then happened and the building was then hijacked
and since then it's been occupied many number one family number two it's very basic here but
for undocumented foreign migrants and desperate South Africans it's important to be in the inner
city where they might find casual work the socioeconomic Rights Institute studies living
conditions in the inner city center and says the government needs a clear plan on how to improve
the situation we we have policies that are there that can assist um in the situ situation that we
find ourselves in um but I think when you come to the local level this is where you also find
that there is a bit of a gap in terms of um that we haven't in the inner city um had a functional
um Citywide response to the issue of housing in the inner city if these people were to be
evicted South African law says the municipality must provide some where else for them to live
yet officials admit the city simply does not have enough space for all those desperately in need of
safe affordable housing in South Africa's City of Gold let's get more from our correspondent Diane
Hawker who joins us now from Johannesburg South Africa hello Diane nice to see you now considering
the dangers how did you gain access to the hijack buildings well it certainly wasn't an area that we
could enter our ourselves without some kind of uh police escort um we actually accompanied a group
of Municipal officials who went along with M with Municipal Police into these buildings as they were
doing inspections and trying to do um the audit unfortunately the area that these buildings is
in is is quite well known for being a bit of a crime hot bed um and it would have been quite
dangerous if we had simply tried to go in there um unassisted or without knowing uh some of the
residents or Community groups in that area and then you had access to the building how did it
feel like being in there I must say it it was quite shocking I mean I've been a resident of
uh Johannesburg for over a decade now and have I've heard about the hijack buildings and the
occupied buildings and the terrible conditions but it's quite different when you see it firsthand
particularly knowing that a lot of people are living there with their children and and
families the the conditions you know are really appalling um there's certain sensory aspects that
don't carry across in the package such as the the the smell in those buildings simply because
you know ref refuse hasn't been removed for a long time there doesn't seem to be any real uh
process for the removal of rubbish so it's just piling up in Courtyards within the buildings or
outside on the streets um and they and there often isn't running water so one can imagine
uh you know sewage and things like that also not being collected so really this the smell
was something that I think uh stuck with me and and the camera person for hours after we entered
um that building and I think also the feeling that I got was a bit of um a sense of Despair
that that people were living in these kinds of conditions and will continue to live in these
kinds of conditions unless something drastic is done to resolve it h I mean the hijacked and
abandoned building problem seems to be a part of a bigger socioeconomic issue tell us more about
that definitely I think over the years you know South Africa has become within this region seen
as an an area where people can get Prosperity um and in South Africa that location of prosperity
has for a long time been Johannesburg you know Johannesburg is is is has a local nickname agoli
which means you know the place of gold um and you know for decades it's it's been a
place where people literally would come to seek gold in the mines um but the mining industry has
has decreased over time on the flip side that influx of people into Johannesburg has not and
that is people migrating within South Africa to look for greener postures as well as those
coming from outside of South Africa looking for some kind kind of opportunities so particularly
in the areas where you have those hijacked and abandoned buildings you'll find a real Melting
Pot of people from rural areas in South Africa as well as those coming from outside who don't have
um enough resources to get better accommodation and end up staying in these buildings under very
poor conditions J have you correspondent Diane Hawker in Johannesburg South Africa thank you