With only 20 hijacked government properties recovered in the past 18 months, despite millions of rand spent on legal fees and consultants, the Department of Public Works’ Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE) is facing tough questions in Parliament over its effectiveness in reclaiming the state’s assets.
Municipalities and the department have been on a campaign to tackle the issue of hijacked city buildings - a problem that has been blamed for contributing to crime in city centres.
But questions have arisen over the performance of the entity, especially since the implementation phase began in 2025, it has not yet filed any of the 166 eviction applications identified for properties occupied illegally.
The programme was initially launched in 2011 under Operation Bring Back with the mandate to track eradicate illegally occupied and abandoned buildings and has been further bolstered by the Expropriation Act in cases of unclaimed properties that are a danger to people.
PTME officials appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Works this week, where they briefed MPs on the status of 1,285 properties across the country that had been identified in 2014 as potentially hijacked or illegally occupied.
According to the entity, only 20 properties have been recovered in the 18 months since investigations into missing or transferred properties and the profiling of illegal occupants began.
These comprise seven properties in North West, 10 in Limpopo, one in Mpumalanga and two in Gauteng — representing just 1.6% of the 1,285 properties that were identified.
The problem extends well beyond the properties identified by PMTE. Hijacked buildings have become a lucrative business for criminal syndicates operating in parts of South Africa, involving both privately owned and government properties.
Previous reporting has estimated that about 5,000 government and privately owned buildings have been hijacked nationally, with syndicates allegedly collecting rent from occupants while legitimate owners remain responsible for rates, taxes and other costs.
The entity is also working to regularise 96 state-owned properties that could potentially be leased to other government departments, generating revenue for Public Works.
Officials told the committee that they were working with service providers to finalise the paperwork required to proceed with the eviction applications.
“We have not yet started filing the 166 eviction applications, but it is important to note that we are working with service providers to make sure we finalise the paperwork that will be used. [There are] two areas: to convert 96 [properties] into a contractual obligation where the department will get revenue, and the other area [is] to file papers so that we can continue with evictions.”
DA MP Bonginkosi Madikizela said the committee needed to understand the value of the properties identified, particularly when weighed against the money already spent on the programme.
“If we are saying we have identified 1,285 properties, what were these properties and what is their value? Because one needs to look at that against the value of money we have already spent. If we look at R237 million against what we have achieved so far, that is not value for money,” he said.
The properties recovered include seven industrial warehouses in Potchefstroom, five residential properties in Limpopo and a block of flats in Phalaborwa. However, the entity did not provide valuations for the recovered properties.
EFF MP Sharon Letlepe questioned the purpose of identifying illegally occupied properties if the department was not taking steps to remove occupants or reclaim the assets.
“What is the point of identifying illegal occupants if the department does not remove them or recover properties? It looks like you are measuring the success of this programme with the number of reports produced instead of properties recovered,” she said.
The slow pace of recovery is particularly significant as government has increasingly discussed using the Expropriation Act to take control of abandoned and hijacked buildings and repurpose them, including for affordable housing.
The approach has previously drawn criticism from private property owners whose buildings have been hijacked, with some arguing that government should help rightful owners regain control of their properties rather than expropriate them.
Letlepe called for a comprehensive plan covering all 1,285 properties, including their value, current status and whether they should be refurbished and repurposed or sold.
ntsikelelo.qoyo@nationalmg.co.za