Johannesburg - The dangers often associated with the building hijackings plaguing Joburg have again been thrust into the spotlight, this time with the discovery of a body with multiple stab wounds in one of Hillbrow’s prominent flats.
The body of the yet-to-be identified man was found inside Florence House, which used to be the Florence Nightingale Hospital, just metres from Constitution Hill.
A veil of silence cloaked on the building, with anxious residents reluctant to speak. The few who did, mentioned the factionalism among rival groups in the building.
Adding to the mystery, the police were equally unsure of the motive for the killing when contacted on Sunday. Hillbrow cluster spokesman Constable Thabo Malatji said the security guards at the building had pointed out the body to the police when they arrived.
“The deceased had multiple stab wounds on the upper body. A knobkierie was found next to the deceased,” he said.
Some residents suspect that the murder is linked to the tensions over the ownership of the building, which has been the subject of a dispute since it was hijacked in 2012.
Building hijackings have been a major concern for the City of Joburg for years, which has indicated that it loses about R8 billion a year, because of illegally occupied buildings.
Successive mayors have vowed to clamp down on building hijackers in the city with little success. Since 2011, the metro’s task team has been working with law-enforcement agencies, including the Hawks, the police, National Prosecuting Authority, SA Revenue Service and Asset Forfeiture Unit to stop the illegal occupation of buildings in Joburg.
Last December, Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela ordered Joburg metro to conduct an investigation into all privately-owned buildings that had been illegally occupied. This was to ensure the city complied with its responsibility to provide emergency housing.
The Star reported in 2012 that the trustees of Florence House had been ousted and refused access to the building after immigrants moved in and began operating businesses inside, including an illegal mortuary.
It is not the first time that a murder has been recorded at the building. In February 2013, Siphiwe Jeffrey Nzuza, a trustee of the Learn and Earn Trust which owned the building, was stabbed to death, allegedly by building hijackers who had followed him into Braamfontein.
Nzuza had spent years trying to restore the building to a legal state with little success. The police suspected that his involvement in serving eviction notices could have led to his death. Since then, the building has remained under its hijackers’ control, out of the media spotlight until Sunday.
ANC ward councillor for the area, Nokuthula Xaba, said she had been alerted to the latest murder early in the morning.
There had been reports of a dispute between different groups of tenants, she said. But when Xaba arrived at the building, accompanied by Joburg metro police, residents refused to give any concrete information about the death, she said. They only indicated that factionalism among residents might have led to an argument that claimed the man’s life.
Malatji said the police did not say whether the slain man was a tenant in the building or not.
“We appeal to anyone in the community with information regarding the incident and which could lead to the arrest of the suspects to come forward,” he urged.
Most residents and security guards at the building were cagey about details of the murder.
However, a man claiming to be the former manager of the building, Issa Mwamba, said he believed a drunken argument had led to the death, rather than any insider problems.
While denying the building had been hijacked, he did admit that there were residents inside who collected money to hire security and cleaning services for the building. Mwamba said the man who had been killed had not been a resident.
Xaba said the City of Joburg was in the middle of a legal battle trying to secure the building from its hijackers.
She said, however, that after hearing of the second death, she had personally contacted Human Settlements MEC Jacob Mamabolo to ask for an update and to ensure progress was made.
A murder docket has been registered