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"title": "Johannesburg CBD fire — What it looks like inside the city's hijacked buildings",
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"description": "Daily Maverick is an independent online news publication and weekly print newspaper in South Africa.\r\n\r\nIt is known for breaking some of the defining stories of South Africa in the past decade, including the Marikana Massacre, in which the South African Police Service killed 34 miners in August 2012.\r\n\r\nIt also investigated the Gupta Leaks, which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.\r\n\r\nThat investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma for their role in the systemic political corruption referred to as state capture.\r\n\r\nIn 2018, co-founder and editor-in-chief Branislav ‘Branko’ Brkic was awarded the country’s prestigious Nat Nakasa Award, recognised for initiating the investigative collaboration after receiving the hard drive that included the email tranche.\r\n\r\nIn 2021, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous also received the award.\r\n\r\nDaily Maverick covers the latest political and news developments in South Africa with breaking news updates, analysis, opinions and more.",
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"contents": "On Thursday, 31 August, in the early morning hours, a fire broke out at a five-storey hijacked building on the corner Alberts and Delvers streets in the Johannesburg city center.\r\n\r\nAt least 73 people died in the fire, with scores more injured. The building is said to have had as many as 200 people living in it.\r\n\r\n<em>Daily Maverick</em> has reported extensively on Joburg's inner-city housing crisis. The photos we've taken, as well as others supplied by the Johannesburg Property Owners & Managers Association, expose the circumstances people live in in the dilapidated hijacked buildings.\r\n\r\n<strong>Also read</strong>: <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-11-29-bad-to-worse-massive-gap-in-rightful-housing-and-basic-service-delivery-for-joburgs-inner-city-low-income-residents/\">Bad to worse - Massive gap in rightful housing and basic service delivery for Joburg's inner-city low-income residents</a>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1476699\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4735.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing nugget street\" width=\"720\" height=\"987\" /> <em>Makeshift boards and curtains divide the space where a community of more than 200 waste pickers reside in the Express building in Nugget Street. The occupants are both South African and foreign nationals. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1476697\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4734.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing express\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" /> <em>What used to be a toilet in the Express building is now a locked room. Occupants survive in the building with overcrowding and a lack of electricity, water supply and sanitation. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1476696\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4731.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing crisis\" width=\"720\" height=\"1033\" /> <em>Nqobile Zulu, a resident at the Express building in Johannesburg, leads us inside the dilapidated structure. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1476705\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4723.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing city\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" /> <em>Broken windows inside a 21-unit city-owned abandoned apartment building. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<strong>Read more:</strong> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-01-mind-the-gap-solutions-to-joburgs-inner-city-housing-crisis-hamstrung-by-budget-constraints/\">Mind the gap — solutions to Joburg’s inner-city housing crisis hamstrung by budget constraints</a>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1448133\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/gomora-kimberlymutandiro-20221031d.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> <em>Fifty families have crammed into a ruined building at the corner of Alexander and Market Streets in inner-city Johannesburg. (Photo: Kimberly Mutandiro)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1829505\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5.-Platinum-Place-after-the-illegal-tenants-had-finally-left-showed-the-inhuman-conditions-in-which-these-people-lived.jpg\" alt=\"Platinum Place, a hijacked building in Johannesburg\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" /> <em>Platinum Place, a formerly hijacked building in Doornfontein, after the illegal tenants had left showed the inhuman conditions in which these people lived. (Photo: <a href=\"https://www.jpoma.co.za/\">JPOMA</a>)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1829534\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/9.-Places-lift-shaft-had-become-a-rubbish-tip.jpg\" alt=\"Platinum Place lift shaft\" width=\"720\" height=\"600\" /> <em>Platinum Place's lift shaft had become a rubbish tip. (Photo: JPOMA)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1829543\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/6.-Platinum-Place-missed-a-roof-and-all-the-interior-fittings-were-gone-by-the-time-the-new-owners-took-over.jpg\" alt=\"Platinum Place's roof was missing\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" /> <em>Platinum Place missed a roof and all the interior fittings were gone when new owners eventually took over. (Photo: JPOMA)</em></p>",
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"description": "On Thursday, 31 August, in the early morning hours, a fire broke out at a five-storey hijacked building on the corner Alberts and Delvers streets in the Johannesburg city center.\r\n\r\nAt least 73 people died in the fire, with scores more injured. The building is said to have had as many as 200 people living in it.\r\n\r\n<em>Daily Maverick</em> has reported extensively on Joburg's inner-city housing crisis. The photos we've taken, as well as others supplied by the Johannesburg Property Owners & Managers Association, expose the circumstances people live in in the dilapidated hijacked buildings.\r\n\r\n<strong>Also read</strong>: <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-11-29-bad-to-worse-massive-gap-in-rightful-housing-and-basic-service-delivery-for-joburgs-inner-city-low-income-residents/\">Bad to worse - Massive gap in rightful housing and basic service delivery for Joburg's inner-city low-income residents</a>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1476699\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1476699\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4735.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing nugget street\" width=\"720\" height=\"987\" /> <em>Makeshift boards and curtains divide the space where a community of more than 200 waste pickers reside in the Express building in Nugget Street. The occupants are both South African and foreign nationals. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1476697\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1476697\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4734.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing express\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" /> <em>What used to be a toilet in the Express building is now a locked room. Occupants survive in the building with overcrowding and a lack of electricity, water supply and sanitation. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1476696\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1476696\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4731.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing crisis\" width=\"720\" height=\"1033\" /> <em>Nqobile Zulu, a resident at the Express building in Johannesburg, leads us inside the dilapidated structure. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1476705\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1476705\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG-4723.jpg\" alt=\"joburg housing city\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" /> <em>Broken windows inside a 21-unit city-owned abandoned apartment building. (Photo: Michelle Banda)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<strong>Read more:</strong> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-01-mind-the-gap-solutions-to-joburgs-inner-city-housing-crisis-hamstrung-by-budget-constraints/\">Mind the gap — solutions to Joburg’s inner-city housing crisis hamstrung by budget constraints</a>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1448133\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1448133\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/gomora-kimberlymutandiro-20221031d.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> <em>Fifty families have crammed into a ruined building at the corner of Alexander and Market Streets in inner-city Johannesburg. (Photo: Kimberly Mutandiro)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1829505\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1829505\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/5.-Platinum-Place-after-the-illegal-tenants-had-finally-left-showed-the-inhuman-conditions-in-which-these-people-lived.jpg\" alt=\"Platinum Place, a hijacked building in Johannesburg\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" /> <em>Platinum Place, a formerly hijacked building in Doornfontein, after the illegal tenants had left showed the inhuman conditions in which these people lived. (Photo: <a href=\"https://www.jpoma.co.za/\">JPOMA</a>)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1829534\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1829534\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/9.-Places-lift-shaft-had-become-a-rubbish-tip.jpg\" alt=\"Platinum Place lift shaft\" width=\"720\" height=\"600\" /> <em>Platinum Place's lift shaft had become a rubbish tip. (Photo: JPOMA)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1829543\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1829543\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/6.-Platinum-Place-missed-a-roof-and-all-the-interior-fittings-were-gone-by-the-time-the-new-owners-took-over.jpg\" alt=\"Platinum Place's roof was missing\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" /> <em>Platinum Place missed a roof and all the interior fittings were gone when new owners eventually took over. (Photo: JPOMA)</em>[/caption]",
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Makeshift boards and curtains divide the space where a community of more than 200 waste pickers reside in the Express building in Nugget Street. The occupants are both South African and foreign nationals. (Photo: Michelle Banda)
What used to be a toilet in the Express building is now a locked room. Occupants survive in the building with overcrowding and a lack of electricity, water supply and sanitation. (Photo: Michelle Banda)
Nqobile Zulu, a resident at the Express building in Johannesburg, leads us inside the dilapidated structure. (Photo: Michelle Banda)
Broken windows inside a 21-unit city-owned abandoned apartment building. (Photo: Michelle Banda)
Fifty families have crammed into a ruined building at the corner of Alexander and Market Streets in inner-city Johannesburg. (Photo: Kimberly Mutandiro)
Platinum Place, a formerly hijacked building in Doornfontein, after the illegal tenants had left showed the inhuman conditions in which these people lived. (Photo: JPOMA)
Platinum Place's lift shaft had become a rubbish tip. (Photo: JPOMA)
Platinum Place missed a roof and all the interior fittings were gone when new owners eventually took over. (Photo: JPOMA)