The Johannesburg building where at least 74 people died in a fire on Thursday was a provincial government shelter for women and children before 'some challenges were encountered'. Yet the city blamed NGOs and foreign nationals for the devastating blaze.

Nearly five years ago, a bogus landlord was jailed for illegally collecting rent from tenants at the City of Johannesburg's building at 80 Albert Street where more than 140 undocumented foreign nationals lived.

This grew to more than 200 families, who illegally occupied the five-storey building, which was engulfed by fire on Thursday. Seventy-four people died in the blaze, a figure that could rise as dozens of injured residents receive treatment.

During the apartheid era, the building was used to administer pass laws. After that, it was leased to the provincial Department of Social Development and turned into the Usindiso Shelter for Women and Children, but by 2017 it had become derelict.

It is one of 57 hijacked buildings that the Johannesburg Property Owners' and Managers' Association has identified and repeatedly lobbied the city to act on, with calls for it to be converted into a heritage site.

The City of Johannesburg manager, Floyd Brink, said: "At the conclusion of the [Department of Social Development's] lease, some challenges were encountered with the occupants and, as a result of the hostilities and stalemate, the building was invaded and hijacked."

One of the reasons the City did not implement plans to tackle...