Ten Nigerian nationals were marched out of a building they allegedly hijacked four years ago – and straight into South African police custody – after they were arrested in Johannesburg earlier on Tuesday.
Charges against the Nigerian nationals include trespassing and contempt of court.
The eviction is part of the city’s efforts to fight back against a wave of alleged illegal occupations by non-South African citizens.
During an audit of 500 buildings across the CBD, Joburg officials concluded that 134 of the had been ‘taken over’ by people with no legal right to be there.
The operation to reclaim the Rosettenville property inhabited by Nigerians heralded the culmination of a four-year effort. The owner first approached the High Court of South Africa, where an eviction order was granted and executed in October 2021. However, the suspects forcefully moved back into the property.
The City of Joburg, empowered by this second breach of the law, sent its top cops into the affected suburb once more, and the lawbreakers were successfully flushed out. All 10 suspects will now be processed in court, with jail sentences and possible deportations on the cards. All in all, it’s a job well done for local enforcement officials:
Their four-year, rent-free stay in Rosettenville has come to a dramatic conclusion, and the City of Joburg confirmed that the owner of the building had his property rightfully returned to him immediately after the arrests were executed:
“Ten suspects – nine males, one female – were arrested this morning at a hijacked property in Rosettenville. The suspects are being detained at Moffatview Police Station. They are expected to appear at the Booysens Magistrates Court tomorrow where they will be charged for trespassing and contempt of court.”
“It is alleged that the property was hijacked by a group of Nigerian nationals in 2018. The matter was then reported to the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service (GFIS) department for investigation. The property has been secured and handed over to the security personnel hired by the owner of the building.”
First published in The South African