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| CREDIT: UNPIXS |
The old Presbyterian church in downtown Johannesburg is one of hundreds of abandoned buildings in the city, where rising rates of extreme poverty and a lack of social housing have driven the homeless to occupy empty and often unsafe properties. Last month, 77 people perished inside a late-night inferno that tore through a five-storey building in the central business district. Authorities said the victims were homeless and had been using the property as an "informal settlement." Witnesses saw people throwing babies from the burning building in an attempt to save them – and at least one man jumped to his death.
Local architect Heather Dodds predicts that there would be a fire with a major loss of life in Johannesburg because of the number of occupied derelict buildings with no escapes, locked doors, no fire equipment, where people cook inside with stoves or open fires and use candles for lighting. According to a local government source, there are roughly 200 large buildings and 250 private dwellings that have been hijacked, the majority of which are located in the poorer, shabbier northern suburbs of Johannesburg. These properties have been claimed over several decades by criminals and opportunists looking to make quick money. They have done so at the detriment of the building's actual owners, the wealthy and socially-minded, who had sought to develop affordable rentals with minimum investment or housing for the poor.
A hijacked building will usually be divided up into so-called rooms using cardboard, scrap metal, or old discarded building material, leaving enough space for a single bed and a small table. The hijackers separate men from women in the building as they don't want people sharing. Families are rare sights. Most of these buildings have neither electricity nor running water. Residents use plastic bags as toilets, which are thrown from windows, and cook food using open flames. Only those with some kind of income will have a one-plate gas stove.
The costs involved suggest that it won't be an easy task to address Johannesburg's "hijacked" phenomenon. Angela Rivers, a manager at Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers’ Association, said it costs up to £1 million to buy and revamp a hijacked building, with the overall redevelopment process typically taking at least two years – “if you are lucky.”
For the residents of Johannesburg's hijacked buildings, the fire that killed 77 people last month was a haunting reminder of their vulnerability. There is no knowing where the next inferno could strike, and many are now desperate to move on.
