JOHANNESBURG - More than 200 people, most of them Malawian and Zimbabwean nationals, have been evicted from a hijacked building in Johannesburg.
This comes as the property’s rightful owners attempt to reclaim the Newtown building, which they describe as having been taken over by a “mafia”.
Renting a room in the hijacked inner-city building cost residents around R2,000 per month.
More than 140 families, mostly Malawian and Zimbabwean, have been evicted.
It’s part of an effort by the building’s legal owners to reclaim the property.
They say they gave the tenants six months to move out, but new people were moved in by the building hijackers, who are said to be Somalians.
While some evicted tenants have found alternative accommodation, others have nowhere else to go.
- eNCA's Naomi Kobbie reports.