DJ Warras cherished Johannesburg. He imagined a city where families could live and raise their children. He hoped that the city would change for the betterment of its citizens and the nation.
But on Tuesday, December 16, the ambitious plan was stopped. The media personality’s mission of “taking back” Johannesburg’s central business district and reclaiming buildings that had been taken over has been cut short by his brutal murder. In a recent interview, Warras openly discussed the difficult task of repairing the city’s dilapidated properties.
“We have buildings in the CBD wasting away because people aren’t paying rent,” he said. “If we try to fix them, we’re told we can’t remove anyone unless we provide alternative accommodation. Ten lawyers will be on your back within an hour.
[paywall]
But someone has to take responsibility; everyone comes from somewhere.” He said most tenants, about 85 to 90%, were hardworking people who simply wanted a safe place to live, go to work, and raise their children, while a small minority resisted any form of progress. Warras believed ActionSA president Herman Mashaba was capable of driving real change but said past efforts had been blocked. DJ Warras was attacked outside Zambezi House in Johannesburg’s CBD, a building home to about 250 occupants, with roughly half reportedly not paying rent.
CCTV footage shows a short man with dreadlocks approaching Warras shortly after noon and opening fire, while another suspect wearing a security uniform was seen near his car. Cartridges were recovered at the scene, and police are tracing both the suspects and the murder weapon. The city later clarified that Warras was not with the building owner at the time of the shooting.
Officials said he was working with an independent security company on implementing biometric access control systems and had been contracted through his private security firm, Imperium Security, to secure the premises and assist with rent collection, a private arrangement, not a city mandate. Warras was also outspoken about political leadership in Johannesburg, saying he was unconvinced that Helen Zille, the chairperson of the DA’s federal council and a mayoral candidate for the city, was the right person to fix Johannesburg.
[/paywall]
