In October 2025, Premier Panyaza Lesufi told the Gauteng Provincial Legislature that CoGTA was leading the process to identify hijacked buildings for possible expropriation. He went further and committed that this work would be completed by 28 November 2025.
That deadline came and went months ago. Today, there is still no revised deadline, no published implementation plan and no indication of when this work will finally be completed.
Our latest parliamentary question has now confirmed what many suspected. The MEC admits that the identification process has still not been completed.
The explanation is that the Department is still consolidating and verifying information.
No one disputes that identifying ownership and verifying property records is complex. But that makes government’s missed deadline even harder to explain. If it knew the process would take longer, it should not have given the Legislature and the public a firm completion date.
Just as worrying is what the MEC chose not to answer.
The response does not tell us:
- How many hijacked buildings have actually been identified;
- Whether any expropriation notices have been issued;
- What budget has been set aside for the expropriation, eviction and rehabilitation of these buildings; or
- Whether anyone has been held accountable for missing government’s own deadline.
Those are not small details. They are the basic measures of whether government is delivering on the commitment it made to the people of Gauteng.
Hijacked buildings are more than abandoned properties. They have become places where criminal syndicates operate, where vulnerable people are exploited, and where entire neighbourhoods continue to deteriorate. Gauteng residents have heard enough announcements. They deserve to see progress.
Premier Lesufi has repeatedly spoken about reclaiming hijacked buildings and restoring our inner cities. It is now time to show what has actually been done.
ActionSA will continue using every oversight tool available in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature until government tables a clear implementation plan, measurable progress and realistic timelines for delivering on this commitment.
Gauteng residents deserve more than announcements and missed deadlines. They deserve a government that delivers on the promises it makes.
ActionSA Herman Mashaba (President) Before politics, he founded Black Like Me in 1985, a household hair-care brand in South Africa. Served as the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg (2016–2019) under a DA-led coalition. Resigned from both the Mayoralty and the DA in 2019, citing a lack of support for pro-poor service delivery and policy differences, leading directly to the birth of ActionSA.
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