WATCH: Police raid hijacked Sandton mansion housing 200 tenants
One of the owners returned from a holiday in 2020 to find the massive house, in the rich suburb of Bryanston, hijacked and illegally occupied.
The luxurious facade of Bryanston, in affluent Sandton, was ripped away on Thursday, 4 December 2025, when City of Johannesburg member of the mayoral committee for Public Safety, Mgcini Tshwaku, led a crackdown on an hijacked residential property that had been converted into a dense, informal settlement.
The operation, conducted alongside Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department officials, Home Affairs, City Power and Joburg Water, resulted in the detention of over 40 individuals, including undocumented foreign nationals, after police climbed over the gate to access the property.
Bryanston house hijacked
The property, once a single-family residence, was allegedly hijacked approximately five years ago. According to one of the rightful owners, Alan Agiloti, his now-divorced wife returned from a holiday in 2020 to find the Bryanston house illegally occupied.
The couple had been in the process of selling or auctioning the home when the alleged takeover occurred. The rightful owner has since opened a case and expressed immense emotion over the dilapidated state of what used to be his family home, burdened now by a city rates and taxes bill exceeding R1 million.
City of Johannesburg raid hijacked house
Upon entering the premises, officials were confronted with what one might mistake for a village: the Bryanston property, shielded by high walls, hosted over 200 tenants living in 40 makeshift structures and wooden zozo huts constructed across the yard.
Reports noted that conditions were dire, marked by peeling paint in the main house, poorly constructed ablution facilities, and chaotic, hazardous networks of illegal electrical connections relying solely on one meter box.
Authorities revealed that this complex criminal enterprise forced occupants – many of whom are undocumented – to pay approximately R2,000 per room or structure each month to the syndicates operating the building. Tenants, some living with families, were found residing even in every room of the main house.
Officials believe that the property had become a haven for organised criminal syndicates, drug activity, and potential illegal firearms, prompting this urgent intervention.
The Johannesburg Emergency Services (EMS) Fire Brigade has since ordered the immediate removal of all temporary wooden structures due to severe safety and fire hazards.
Tshwaku said that the city was dedicated to conducting these operations across Johannesburg suburbs like Bryanston, Sandton, and Sunninghill, as part of an ongoing effort to evict illegal occupants, remove unauthorised rentals, and clean up dangerous buildings to restore urban safety.