Court halts Marble Towers demolition amid Joburg CBD crackdown

A last-minute court interdict has temporarily halted the City of Johannesburg’s planned demolition of alleged illegal structures at Marble Towers in the CBD, marking the latest development in the city’s intensified inner-city clean-up campaign.

The urgent legal challenge delayed demolition efforts on Tuesday after city officials, backed by heavy law enforcement presence, descended on Marble Towers and surrounding areas as part of a broader operation targeting by-law violations, undocumented immigration and non-compliant businesses.

Johannesburg Mayor, Dada Morero, says the city remains confident that several structures erected at Marble Towers do not have the required approvals.

“As it relates to Marble Tower, the judge has requested to hear their case at 10 am and once the case has been heard, which we know we are confident, they don’t have any form of approvals. None of the illegal structures that they’ve built have legal approval. So just giving them the chance to go through what they believe will help them. So they’ll go to court at 10 and once the court comes out we then proceed with removal of the structures here in Marble Towers.”

Morero says the building allegedly owes the city nearly R14 million in unpaid municipal services, including water and electricity. Officials have since disconnected services at the property.

He also claims authorities discovered people living inside the building despite it not being zoned for residential use, describing the situation as widespread non-compliance with municipal by-laws.

The matter has been postponed to Wednesday for further hearing.

– City Expands CBD Enforcement Operations –

The Marble Towers dispute unfolded alongside a wider enforcement operation across the Johannesburg CBD, with authorities conducting inspections at residential buildings, businesses and informal trading sites.

Officials from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), South African Police Service (SAPS) and Home Affairs carried out stop-and-search operations and immigration inspections around Small Street, Marble Towers and surrounding commercial buildings.

The operation forms part of the city’s broader plan to reclaim the inner city precinct by precinct following last week’s demolition of illegal structures on Small Street.

– Building on Lilian Ngoyi Street Owes City Millions –

Elsewhere in the CBD, Deputy Mayor Loyiso Masuku, led an inspection at a non-compliant residential building on Lilian Ngoyi Street.

Officials allegedly discovered underground structures illegally converted into mini garages, storage facilities and trading spaces.

Masuku says the property owes the municipality approximately R11 million in unpaid rates, taxes, water and electricity.

“We can see illegally built structures at the basement of the building where they’ve built mini garages that they’re utilizing for selling and storages. Secondly, in our system we were able to pick up that the building owes us for rates and taxes, water and electricity to the value of 11 million. The teams are inside cutting, we’re going to go outside, we’re cutting the electricity, we’re going outside to cut the water.”

The city has since implemented a level-three disconnection process, which includes cutting off water and electricity services and removing municipal infrastructure to prevent illegal reconnections.

Masuku says development planning officials will now determine whether the underground structures can legally remain or face demolition.

– Arrests During CBD Compliance Raids –

Law enforcement operations also targeted businesses accused of employing undocumented foreign nationals.

During a compliance inspection at MTN Butchery, Johannesburg MMC for Human Settlements Mlungisi Mabaso, says officials discovered undocumented workers allegedly employed at the business.

Eleven undocumented immigrants, along with two business officials, were arrested during the raid.

Authorities claim some individuals attempted to flee and allegedly hid on top of freezers while officials inspected employment records and documentation.

Mabaso alleges business management initially misled officials about the employment status of workers.

He says immigration authorities are now verifying the legal status of every employee found on the premises, while the business officials are expected to face charges linked to the alleged harbouring of undocumented immigrants.

– Gambling Establishment Also Targeted –

The city later expanded inspections to nearby businesses, including a gambling establishment, where additional undocumented workers were allegedly identified.

Mabaso says some workers were handed over to police and Home Affairs officials for processing, while others allegedly fled during the operation.

“I think we must now start calling for a forensic investigation now which will then be directed to Home Affairs. Because clearly we’ve got officials there that are working with these criminals in issuing out these documents. Because if they do not have temporal refugee status, they’ve got these temporal asylum seekers, everything is temporal to them.”

The latest operations form part of Johannesburg’s broader campaign aimed at restoring law and order in the inner city while tackling illegal trading, hijacked buildings and non-compliant businesses.

The Executive Mayor, Cllr. Dada Morero, is on the ground leading a High-Impact Service Delivery Operation in Small Street, within the Johannesburg inner city. ​Alongside MMCs and City officials, leadership is monitoring the multi-disciplinary intervention to restore law and… pic.twitter.com/57rVIgivVZ

— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) May 19, 2026

Written by: Lebohang Ndashe