An army arrests tenants

According to the city’s mayor’s office, four property hijackers were nabbed alongside the 24 people.

Displaced: Tenants to a resident in Forest Hill were left homeless after a forced eviction.

Twenty eight people received the shock of their lives when an army of law enforcers raided several properties during an operation in the south of Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service Department (GFIS) working with police, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Social Development and JMPD, targeted several properties which then led to the arrest of 28 people.

TRAGEDY. Sheffield Street eviction left many with questions.

According to the city’s mayor’s office, four property hijackers were among the 24 people nabbed.

A statement from the mayor said the 24 people were arrested for trespassing and contempt of court in the sting operation which involved five hijacked properties in the south of Johannesburg.

One undocumented foreign national was also arrested during the operation. Home Affairs is expected to process the suspect’s identity and residency status.

SITUATION RIFE: Outside Sheffield Street in Turffontein.

Those arrested will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on March 15.

The mayor’s office says the occupiers were unlawful occupiers who forcibly moved back into the properties after they had been evicted under a court order.

The illegal occupiers are said to have trespassed and were arrested for trespassing and failing to adhere to an order of the court.

VOLATILE: A resident was shot on the leg.

Mashaba said he was pleased to announce that four properties in the clutches of hijackers were handed back to their rightful owners. He said the owners had arranged their own private security guards to guard the properties.

The total number of properties that have been handed back to their rightful owners now stands at 22.

Mashaba said he was informed that monthly rent of R21 000 was being collected from one of the properties that was hijacked four years ago.

SHOOK: Turmoil outside Sheffield Street after an eviction.

JMPD spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Mienaar confirmed the operation and the bust of several occupiers.

He said people were occupying property illegally. Places targeted were in Sheffield, Great Britain, Bishop and Mentz street.

The occupiers were charged at the Booysens Police Station for trespassing.

Two weeks of raids by police have left some tenants in the South with more questions than answers. It seems more and more buildings will be targeted as part of the mayor’s plan to rid the city of property hijackers.

A property was allegedly also burnt after tenants claimed they suspected that the property owners did not have relevant documents regarding ownership.