Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba says the programme to expropriate abandoned and hijacked buildings in the inner city is moving full steam ahead.

The plan is to use the buildings for low-cost housing.

On Wednesday, deputy public works minister Jeremy Cronin clarified on POWER 98.7 that the City is legally empowered to expropriate such buildings for further development.

Mashaba had written letters to Public Works seeking intervention with no success.

Speaking on POWER Breakfast, Mashaba says the city will now invite private sector stakeholders to submit proposals on how they can best develop the structures to benefit the city.

“We’ve allowed total lawlessness in the past 20 years. We are going to ensure that we bring the rule of law. We are going to also directly expropriate buildings where the owners owe us money and are not prepared to do anything about the buildings,” Mashaba told hosts Bob Mabena and Thabo Mdluli.