South Africa: Joburg Councillor, Police Officer Implicated in Alleged Hijacking of Police Building

Tony Webster/Flickr
...
7 September 2023
allAfrica.com
By Jerry Chifamba

Harare — One of the 23 suspects in an alleged Johannesburg building hijacking is a councillor for the city, News24 reports, and another suspect is allegedly a police officer. The raid is a result of the City's efforts to find other housing for Marshalltown building occupants after last week's fire, which claimed 77 lives.

The facility was bought by the municipality in 2019 for R40 million, according to Gwamanda's spokesperson Mlimandlela Ndamase, and had been earmarked by the City as an alternate residence for homeless individuals.

Officials from the city discovered construction workers erecting face-brick walls on the property during an inspection on Wednesday morning. Angie Mokasi, the acting chief of police, said that among those handcuffed was a fake landlord who claimed to be the owner of the property, and that several people are currently under investigation.

The suspects face charges of malicious damage to property and City infrastructure, theft and vandalism.

 

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 allAfrica.com. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.