South Africa's hijacked buildings: A 10-year recovery programme recovers just 20 properties

South Africa's Operation Bring Back, a decade-long programme to reclaim state properties illegally occupied or transferred, has recovered only 20 buildings out of 1,285 identified for return, according to parliamentary testimony from August 2026. The slow pace exposes a governance crisis that activists and officials say fuels crime, endangers vulnerable residents, and deepens the country's housing shortage.

Hijacked buildings, where private or state properties are seized and often rented out illegally, remain a visible symptom of urban decay across Johannesburg, Cape Town, and eThekwini. The 2023 Usindiso Building fire in Johannesburg, which killed 76 people, turned a national spotlight on the human cost of these conditions.

What did Parliament hear about Operation Bring Back?

On August 27, 2026, the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure was told that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure had identified 1,285 potential property recoveries under Operation Bring Back. Only 20 properties had been successfully returned to the department.

Four service providers were appointed at a combined cost of R237 million to identify, audit, analyse, evict occupants from, and recover illegally occupied or hijacked properties. Committee members expressed concern about the pace of recoveries and warned that disputes over payments to service providers could threaten the programme's future.

The department was asked on August 19 about the scale of hijacked state properties, recovery efforts, and measures to prevent reoccupation. It had not responded by August 31.

What are the human costs of hijacked buildings?

Community safety activist Xolani Khumalo, who has worked directly in hijacked buildings including operations targeting drug activity, described conditions that put residents, especially children, in immediate danger. In one inner-city Johannesburg building, children aged from seven years down to a newborn lived without water or electricity. A large structural opening on an upper floor posed a fall hazard from the fourth floor to the basement, which was filled with human waste and used to conceal narcotics.

Khumalo also alleged corruption involving property ownership and said rehoming occupants required decisive political will. He called on the City of Johannesburg to pursue inner-city rejuvenation deliberately while addressing the housing backlog.

How do officials frame the problem?

Dr Bandile Masuku, chairperson of Gauteng's Portfolio Committee on Community Safety, described hijacked buildings as a serious law-enforcement and community-safety concern. He cited overcrowding, illegal electricity connections, fire hazards, blocked emergency exits, poor sanitation, unsafe structures, and the exploitation of vulnerable people as key risks.

Masuku called the Usindiso fire a painful reminder of the consequences of poorly regulated and overcrowded buildings. He urged a coordinated response involving municipalities, law enforcement, emergency services, and provincial and national departments, including a comprehensive database of hijacked buildings and efforts to disrupt criminal networks.

In the Western Cape, Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais said poorly managed or illegally occupied properties could become vulnerable to organised crime, including extortion and drug-related activity. She acknowledged that enforcement was complicated by ownership disputes, legal processes, and the need to protect vulnerable occupants. Addressing the problem effectively requires more than a policing response, she said.

Why do housing advocates oppose blanket evictions?

Yusrah Bardien, communications and engagements officer at Ndifuna Ukwazi, argues that not every occupied building is a criminal enterprise. She distinguishes between buildings controlled by criminal syndicates for profit and organised occupations driven by the shortage of affordable housing.

Criminal hijacking, she said, involves exploitative syndicates extracting wealth from poor residents. But occupations such as Cissie Gool House, Ahmed Kathrada House, and Irene Grootboom House are governed by leadership structures and internal committees, not criminals.

Bardien pointed to a housing backlog affecting approximately 365,000 households in Cape Town, describing the crisis as a systemic failure lasting over thirty years. Eviction is not the answer when there is nowhere affordable for residents to go, she argued. From a spatial justice perspective, governments should shift from reactive evictions to proactive urban reform, including upgrading some occupied buildings into compliant affordable housing without demolition or displacement.

What is eThekwini doing about hijacked buildings?

In KwaZulu-Natal, eThekwini Municipality describes hijacked and illegally occupied buildings as one of the most complex public safety and governance challenges facing the city. Municipal spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila said the risks go beyond physical conditions, with criminal elements interfering with utility infrastructure and obstructing lawful enforcement.

National legislation, notably the PIE Act governing evictions and the Heritage Act, is designed to protect legitimate rights but in practice slows enforcement considerably, Mzila said. Untraceable owners and buildings tied up in deceased estates create further delays.

The municipality is using its Repair and Recovery programme to undertake remedial work while recovering costs from property owners, and is working with other government entities to address the challenges.

What does the data show about the scale of the crisis?

The numbers presented to Parliament are stark: 1,285 properties identified for recovery, only 20 recovered, and R237 million spent on service providers. The gap between identification and recovery suggests systemic bottlenecks in legal processes, payment disputes, and enforcement capacity.

For Namibia, where urban housing pressures are also growing, the South African experience offers a cautionary tale about the costs of delayed urban reform and the dangers of treating housing as a law-enforcement issue alone.

Frequently asked questions about South Africa's hijacked buildings

What is Operation Bring Back?

Operation Bring Back is a South African government programme aimed at recovering state properties that have been illegally occupied or unlawfully transferred. It has been operating for approximately 10 years.

How many properties has Operation Bring Back recovered?

As of August 2026, only 20 properties had been successfully returned to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure out of 1,285 identified for recovery.

What caused the Usindiso Building fire?

The 2023 Usindiso Building fire in Johannesburg claimed 76 lives and exposed the devastating consequences of poorly regulated and overcrowded buildings, forcing renewed national scrutiny of hijacked buildings.

Why are evictions not the only solution?

Housing advocates argue that evictions fail when there is nowhere affordable for residents to go. They call for proactive urban reform, including upgrading occupied buildings into compliant affordable housing, rather than reactive evictions.