Joburg mayor considers plan to take back the city CBD using US Iraqi war tactics
Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has been presented with a plan to clear the city’s CBD buildings of unauthorised occupants, using a “shock and awe” campaign similar to that used by the United States in the Iraq war.
The plan would be to return hijacked buildings to their owners or have them forfeited to the state was discussed on 6 February at the municipality-convened Inner City Partnership Forum, according to a presentation by the city’s Regulatory, Compliance and Special Investigations unit seen by Bloomberg.
In this plan, Johannesburg’s forensic unit “will adopt the ‘shock and awe’ doctrine” based “on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular display of force to paralyze the enemy’s perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight,” it said, adding that the strategy was used by U.S. forces in Iraq.
When asked about the plan, Mashaba stressed that it was simply a proposal, and that no move to adopt it had been taken.
“It would be premature to have a public discussion around this particular matter because the team only presented to us a concept which is it at such a very early stage,” he told Bloomberg.
Mashaba recently found himself in hot water with the DA after he referred to undocumented immigrants as criminals in comments that sparked criticism from civil rights groups and government.
“The problem of undocumented immigrants is not a national issue; it’s something that impacts directly on the city of Johannesburg’s ability to deliver to our people,” Mashaba said in a 15 February interview.
“That is why, with immigration not being our competency, we engage the national government to do something about it because, how can anyone expect us to deliver to the residents of Johannesburg when we have so many undocumented immigrants.’’
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