Slain DJ Warras' fight against hijacked buildings 'invited' threats

SLAIN Warrick "DJ Warras" Stock had apparently been threatened when he intensified his work of recovering hijacked buildings in the Joburg CBD - an issue he also spoke strongly against on various social media platforms in recent months.

Stock was shot dead outside Carlton Center in the Johannesburg CBD on Tuesday. Police have since launched a manhunt for three assailants who are still at large. 

Stock had previously applied for five protection orders against some of the non-paying tenants of the building, according to Public Safety mayco member Dr Mgcini Tshwaku.

"DJ Warras was approached by the lawyers who were managing the building on behalf of the owner. The owner saw that the rent had decreased drastically, with only 50% of tenants paying, while the rest were not. They had a committee that was collecting rent. One of the companies approached the owners to secure this building to ensure that maintenance is done and the tenants pay," Tshwaku said.

He said the 40-year-old had appeared in court on December 12, where he sought a protection order against a woman residing in Zambezi Flats - an area evidently entwined with organised threats against him.

"DJ Warras applied for a protection order. We know that the hearing was last week on the 12th of December. So, he was granted that protection order against a certain woman at the Zambezi Flats. He also requested that there must be a raid in that room or in those rooms because there are several people and because they've been citing that those individuals were threatening his security, and they were threatening to burn the whole building, and they were threatening sort of to really deal with him," Tshwaku stated.

ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba, who as the mayor of Joburg, led a clean-up campaign targeting hijacked buildings, decried the lack of progress in dealing with this problem.

Mashaba said the City has no less than 500 hijacked buildings, which have become a hive of criminality in the city centre.

Cape Times