Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale says that because the housing backlog is a "very large one", his department will seek to tap the potential that exists to reclaim dilapidated inner city buildings for affordable housing - the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) estimates that the current backlog stands at about 2,1-million units.

Speaking at the launch of the Cavendish Chambers housing project in the Johannesburg inner city, Sexwale also warned that building hijacking would no longer be tolerated.

Cavendish Chambers was acquired from the City of Johannesburg for about R6,6-million and refurbished for habitation to the tune of R26-million. The National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) provided R33-million for the purchase and the refurbishment, with the Afhco Group injecting R1,6-million in equity.

The building was constructed in 1950 and became vacant in the early 1990s. But it was hijacked before being bought by the Afhco Group in 2006.

To date, Afhco owns 80 buildings in the inner city representing about 3 500 rental apartments and NHFC funding worth about R150-million.

"At the moment, we have 2 700 informal settlements, which have become a parking lot for people nurturing hope that one day they will have a house, or a shelter that is affordable," Sexwale said, while applauding those involved in the Johannesburg public private partnership.

He challenged the developers to identify other derelict buildings in the inner city and to package these as modern apartments.

"Cities never die, they change clients. Life is being injected as we reclaim the buildings. Johannesburg is being reclaimed - inch-by-inch, street-by-street and block-by-block."

He did not mince his words when warning against the hijacking of buildings and stated that the government would come after culprits.

"We are meeting with the Hawks and the Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele, so that they must enforce evictions in cases where buildings have been illegally occupied."

During the launch of the Tau Village, in the City of Tshwane, in August, Sexwale registered his unhappiness with some of the judgments against the illegal occupation of land or buildings and cautioned that the judiciary should not sanction this.

He argued that the government should work together with the judiciary to find ways and means of solving the problem. "We do not agree with the legalisation of illegality."