After 77 people died in a fire in a building owned by the City of Johannesburg, the municipality reportedly plans to go to court to seek clarity on the requirement to place evictees in alternative accommodation, which it says prevents it from dealing with hijacked buildings.

The City of Johannesburg, which has been criticised for failing to deal with hijacked buildings where residents often live in squalid conditions, plans to launch a legal bid to clarify the requirement of finding alternative accommodation for evicted residents.

This comes after the death toll from the fire that engulfed a five-storey building at 80 Albert Street in Johannesburg's CBD last week rose to 77.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, the city has identified 188 hijacked buildings in the city centre. The Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association has compiled a list of 57 properties that have been hijacked, where residents are charged between R600 and R1,200 a week by their "landlords".

While the city and private property owners often want to send in authorities to raid buildings and evict people living there illegally, legal precedent states that they must provide adequate alternative accommodation to residents who would be rendered homeless by eviction.

However, there is a lack of low-cost housing in Johannesburg and the municipality is often unable to provide adequate alternative accommodation, which has led to city officials criticising the NGOs that defend tenants' rights.

City of Johannesburg manager Floyd Brink told the...