Hijacked Lives

© Michele Spatari / AFP

More than 70 people have died on August 31, 2023 in a fire that engulfed a five-storey building in central Johannesburg that once was a symbol of apartheid.

The tragedy reopened a decade-long debate about so-called hijacked buildings - old disused blocks that have fallen under the control of criminal syndicates who collect rent from squatters.

Illegal occupation of abandoned buildings in downtown Johannesburg, which slumped into decay and decline in the 1990s, is widespread. After years of sanctions during the 1980s, the advent of democracy in 1994 saw many white-owned businesses move out to security-fenced suburbs. Entire blocks were left empty. "Hijacked" buildings are overcrowded by design, as criminals try to squeeze as much money as possible out of them. They often have no toilets, electricity or water, a "catastrophe waiting to happen".

Most of those living in these buildings are foreigners. South Africa, with the continent's most industrialised economy, attracts millions of migrants, many undocumented, from other African nations. The world's most unequal society, it has a shortage of social housing despite building millions of homes after the advent of democracy. Those without papers do not qualify for assistance and even those who do can expect to wait for more than a decade for a spot.