The Mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, insists if they abandon their operation to evict people who are illegally occupying buildings in the metro, they would have failed as government.

This as tensions were high following the eviction of Pharoe Park flats residents in Germiston today.

The eviction follows a court order obtained by the metro’s sheriff to evict them for unlawfully occupying the units.

Xhakaza says if government fails private sector will lose its confidence in the city.

“We’ve been running different incentives to encourage the property owners here to say as the city, if we actually incentivise you, you do not pay money into our corpus. You actually re-invest the money back into the upkeep and upgrade of your facilities. That’s how we then build partnerships so that we encourage the private owners of these buildings to come back and actually invest,” Xhakaza says.

“But us, as if we give up as a number one stakeholder, there’s no reason that private sector they will have confidence to come back and re-invest in these CBD’s. Then it will mean we’ve actually given up on them,” she adds.

VIDEO | Mayor responds to violent protest in Germiston: