AMID the nation's grief over the death of Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman at age 92, dilapidated building in the inner city of Joburg are still a hot topic.
A week after the devastating deaths of 77 people in a hijacked building fire, the question is how many more hijacked buildings are there in downtown Joburg, and how many more lives are at stake.
The city is still determined to break up the syndicate that sells the abandoned buildings and vacant properties.
On Wednesday 6 September, Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda led a raid in Joburg city centre against suspected syndicates illegally occupying and destroying city property.
The property in question is owned by the city and was bought in 2019 for a sum of R40 million and was to be used as pounds for the JMPD. The operation led to the arrest of 23 suspects, including a councillor.
Staying on your Joburg news: There were two fires in the city this week.
The first incident was a fire that broke out in one of Egoli Gas' pipelines, setting a truck and part of a building on fire at the corner of Bertha and De Korte streets in Braamfontein, Joburg.
The incident happened just after 3pm on Tuesday, 5 September. At the same time, a fire broke out at the Randburg Magistrates Court on Thursday, 7 September. The City of Joburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) confirmed that four vehicles were on fire at the court.
Seventeen of the 19 people who died in a shoot-out between police and suspected cash-in-transit robbers in Makhado, Limpopo on Friday 1 September have been identified. Five of the dead were from Zimbabwe, while the rest were from Gauteng and Limpopo.
The five arrested people linked to the suspected robbers appeared in court on Monday, 4 September and the trial was postponed to October.
Just when the country thought things could not get any worse, petrol prices were increased on Wednesday, 6 September.
Both grades of petrol (93 and 95) were increased by R1,71 on 6 September. This means that 93 unleaded costs R24,14 per litre inland, and 95 unleaded costs R24,54. On the coast, 93 unleaded costs R23,42 per litre and 95 unleaded R23,82
In your entertainment news, police confirmed they made a breakthrough in the murder investigation of rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes as they have identified the getaway cars used on the day of the incident.
And finally, controversial AbaThembu King married another wife!
