17 hours ago
Inside Houghton property where 90 undocumented migrants were found
In one of the back rooms, a 27-year-old Malawian woman who appeared surprised, emerged to see what was happening. She said she was in South Africa to study and had been invited to come to South Africa by her brother Diyason.
'I do have a passport. I had just arrived this month. My brother, Brown, called me when I was at home and said there was an opportunity to study in South Africa and he has accommodation where I can sleep,' she said.
A huge yard inside the high walls seems to have had a swimming pool, which has since been destroyed. Some of the rooms are partitioned by cardboard boxes. In one of the rooms, what appears to be the electrical mains box is loaded with electrical wires.
An online search on the property market shows the property was bought by a company in August last year for more than R6m.
Tshwaku said his inspection was part of the city's ongoing efforts to address illegal occupation, enforce bylaws and uphold the safety and integrity of residential communities.
During his visit, officials from Johannesburg Water cut off the water connection, while City Power cut off the illegal electricity connection. Tshwaku said they got a tip-off that there was a house where there was a lot of activity with many people going in and out.
'Yesterday [Thursday], we did the oversight to check what's happening at night. It was a surprise visit. That's when we discovered they were undocumented foreigners, about 92 of them,' he said.
