Hijacked Buildings: The State's 10-Year Failure to Reclaim Its Own

South Africa's hijacked building crisis is not merely a housing problem. It is a direct consequence of decades of spatial apartheid, a state that has lost control of its own property, and a system that continues to fail the most vulnerable Black South Africans. While the government spends hundreds of millions of rand on recovery programmes, only a fraction of its properties have been returned, and the human cost is measured in lives lost and children living in squalor.

What is the scale of the hijacked building crisis in South Africa?

From Johannesburg and Cape Town to eThekwini, buildings intended for residential or commercial use have been unlawfully occupied for years. Vulnerable residents, often with nowhere else to go, sometimes pay rent to individuals who have no legal right to collect it. The conditions inside are dire: overcrowding, illegal electricity connections, poor sanitation, unsafe structures, and neglected infrastructure create serious risks for residents and surrounding communities alike.

Authorities warn that some buildings have become havens for drug trafficking, organised crime, and exploitation. The 2023 Usindiso Building fire in Johannesburg, which claimed 76 lives, exposed the devastating consequences of these conditions and forced renewed national scrutiny of so-called hijacked buildings.

Why has the state failed to reclaim its own properties?

The scale of the state's struggle is stark. On August 27, Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure heard that 1,285 potential property recoveries had been identified under Operation Bring Back, a programme aimed at recovering state properties that have been illegally occupied or unlawfully transferred. Only 20 properties had successfully been returned to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

The department told the committee that four service providers had been appointed at a combined cost of R237 million to identify, audit, analyse, evict occupants from, and recover illegally occupied or hijacked properties. The committee expressed concern about the pace of recoveries and warned that disputes over payments to service providers could threaten the programme, which has been operating for approximately 10 years.

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure was asked on August 19 about the scale of hijacked state properties, efforts to reclaim them, the number successfully recovered, and measures to prevent reoccupation. The department had not responded by August 31. This silence speaks volumes about the state's priorities.

What are the human consequences of state neglect?

Community safety activist Xolani Khumalo said the consequences of buildings falling outside effective control are not abstract numbers. Khumalo has worked directly in hijacked buildings, including operations targeting drug activity. He said the proliferation of hijacked buildings had reached critical levels.

One case, he said, involved children ranging from seven years old to a newborn living in an inner-city Johannesburg building without water or electricity.

On the upper floors, a large structural opening posed a fall hazard from the fourth floor to the basement,

Khumalo said. The basement, he said, was filled with human waste and used to conceal narcotics.

The conditions placed those children in immediate danger,

he said.

Khumalo also raised concerns about alleged corruption involving property ownership and said rehoming occupants required decisive political will.

The City of Johannesburg must pursue inner-city rejuvenation with deliberate intent while simultaneously addressing the housing backlog,

he said.

Is this a law enforcement issue or a housing issue?

Gauteng's Portfolio Committee on Community Safety chairperson Dr Bandile Masuku said hijacked and illegally occupied buildings were a serious law-enforcement and community-safety concern.

Hijacked buildings have a potential to create conditions that enable criminality, exploitation, overcrowding, and other public safety risks,

Masuku said.

This is not only a housing challenge, but also a law enforcement and governance matter that requires a coordinated response.

He said the concerns included overcrowding, illegal electricity connections, fire hazards, blocked emergency exits, poor sanitation, unsafe structures and the exploitation of vulnerable people. Masuku said the Usindiso fire remained a painful reminder of the devastating consequences of poorly regulated and overcrowded buildings. He called for a coordinated response involving municipalities, law enforcement, emergency services, and provincial and national departments, including a comprehensive database of hijacked buildings and efforts to disrupt criminal networks.

Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais said poorly managed or illegally occupied properties could become vulnerable to organised criminal activity.

Any issue that affects public safety and contributes to crime is of importance to the Western Cape Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety,

Marais said.

There are also concerns around extortion, drug-related activity, and other forms of criminality that can take root where there is limited control of a property.

But she acknowledged that enforcement was complicated by ownership disputes, legal processes, and the need to protect vulnerable occupants.

Addressing the problem effectively requires more than a policing response,

Marais said.

Why is eviction not the answer?

That distinction is central to the argument made by housing advocates. Yusrah Bardien, communications and engagements officer at Ndifuna Ukwazi, said it was important not to treat every occupied building as a criminal enterprise. Bardien distinguishes between buildings controlled by criminal syndicates for profit and organised occupations driven by the shortage of affordable housing.

Criminal hijacking, she said, involves exploitative criminal syndicates taking control of properties to extract wealth from poor residents. But she said occupations such as Cissie Gool House, Ahmed Kathrada House, and Irene Grootboom House are different.

These occupations are not run by criminals. Instead, they are governed by leadership structures and internal committees,

Bardien said.

The crisis of occupied buildings in Cape Town reflects a systemic failure that has lasted over thirty years,

she said, pointing to a housing backlog affecting approximately 365,000 households. Bardien argued that the answer cannot simply be eviction, particularly when there was nowhere affordable for residents to go.

From a spatial justice perspective, governments must change their approach. They should shift from reactive evictions to proactive urban reform,

she said. She argued that some occupied buildings could be upgraded into compliant affordable housing without demolition or displacement.

What is happening in eThekwini?

In KwaZulu-Natal, eThekwini Municipality describes hijacked and illegally occupied buildings as one of the most complex public safety and governance challenges facing the city. Municipal spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila said the risks went beyond the physical condition of buildings.

Beyond the visible risks of dilapidated and structurally unsafe buildings, fire and electrical non-compliance, poor ventilation and drainage, these properties are frequently exploited by criminal elements who interfere with utility infrastructure and obstruct lawful enforcement action,

he said.

But enforcement is complicated by the legal framework.

National legislation, notably the PIE Act, which governs evictions, and the Heritage Act, is designed to protect legitimate rights, but in practice slows enforcement considerably,

Mzila said. Untraceable owners and buildings tied up in deceased estates can create further delays, he said. The municipality said it was using its Repair and Recovery programme to undertake remedial work while recovering costs from property owners, and was working with other government entities to address the challenges.

What must change?

The crisis of hijacked buildings is a mirror of South Africa's broader failure to address the legacy of apartheid spatial planning. The state cannot continue to spend millions on service providers while only 20 of 1,285 properties are recovered. It cannot ignore the children living in buildings without water, electricity, or safe structures. The answer lies not in mass evictions that push people onto the streets, but in proactive urban reform that prioritises affordable housing and spatial justice. The political will must be found to reclaim not just buildings, but the dignity of the people forced to live in them.

Frequently asked questions about hijacked buildings in South Africa

What is Operation Bring Back?

Operation Bring Back is a government programme aimed at recovering state properties that have been illegally occupied or unlawfully transferred. As of August 2026, only 20 of 1,285 identified properties had been successfully returned to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

What caused the Usindiso Building fire?

The Usindiso Building fire in Johannesburg in 2023 claimed 76 lives. It exposed the devastating consequences of poorly regulated and overcrowded hijacked buildings, including fire hazards, blocked emergency exits, and illegal electricity connections.

Are all occupied buildings run by criminals?

No. Housing advocates distinguish between buildings controlled by criminal syndicates for profit and organised occupations driven by the shortage of affordable housing. Occupations such as Cissie Gool House and Ahmed Kathrada House are governed by leadership structures and internal committees, not criminals.