‘How many more lives must be lost before hijacked buildings in the Joburg inner city are dealt with?’
Aid and shelter have been provided to more than 260 displaced people after a fire engulfed their informal settlement homes built inside a Jeppestown three-storey building on Sunday.
On Monday, humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers was among those who brought much-needed essentials for the victims of the fire.
EMS firefighters from the City of Joburg worked tirelessly from the early hours to extinguish the blaze.
EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said some of the patients were critical and had been taken to nearby health-care facilities.
“The cause of the fire is unknown. An investigation by experts and the SAPS is ongoing,” Mulaudzi said.
Survivors are being accommodated in tents erected at one of the city’s buildings.
One of the survivors, Nompilo Khumalo, originally from KwaNongoma in KwaZulu-Natal, expressed gratitude for the help they received.
“We slept well after receiving help from the city’s authorities. We were given blankets and much-needed food parcels. We are full after we’ve been fed. The only thing we are lacking is accommodation since we lost our belongings,” said Khumalo.
Another survivor, who asked not to be named, said all her important documents had gone up in smoke.
“I am lost for words. All I have been doing is praying to get a job so that I can take care of my children back at home in KZN,” she said.
The tragic incident comes almost a year after a fire at the five-storey Usindiso building in Marshalltown left 77 people dead.
The latest fire in the inner city has created the impression that the city is failing to prevent such tragedies. There are many more hijacked inner-city buildings in which shacks have been erected.
City of Joburg Human Settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso, speaking in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Monday, conceded that the city needed to take responsibility for the housing crisis in the increasingly populated inner city.
“Indeed this was a building with an informal settlement inside; some structures were erected in the rooftop. The building is privately owned by a certain company that we are still tracking down … The building was hijacked and illegally occupied. We acknowledge what happened, considering the previous incident (Usindiso). As a city we take responsibility over what had happened because we are mandated to provide accommodation for our residents,” said Mabaso.
DA Gauteng spokesperson for human settlements Mervyn Cirota said the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements’ failure to decisively address the issue of abandoned and hijacked buildings in the Johannesburg CBD has resulted in yet another tragic incident.
“After the Marshalltown tragedy where 77 people lost their lives and many sustained severe injuries, the DA requested both Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the former mayor of Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, to explain what steps they would take to prevent further fires and loss of life. However, to date, no action has been taken,” Cirota said.
He said that raised the question: “How many more lives must be lost before this situation is addressed?”
Cirota said the blame for the continued fires in the city’s hijacked buildings lay in the hands of the Department of Human Settlements, in conjunction with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the City of Johannesburg.
“These parties have failed to develop a feasible plan to tackle the housing challenge in the inner city. This has resulted in the hijacking of buildings that are unconducive to live in, posing a safety and health risk for the inhabitants.
“The continuous incidents of fires and unnecessary deaths due to the absence of an effective remedy are concerning and point to a lack of a definite path ahead.”
Cirota said that more concerning was the fact that there were 181 hijacked buildings in the inner city, most of them resembling informal settlements and presenting a serious safety risk to the individuals who had taken them over illegally.
“The DA calls on the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the City of Johannesburg to advise what steps will be taken by them to prevent further fires and loss of life, especially as it has become clear that nothing has or is being done to safeguard the residents from these hazardous structures and conditions.”
The Marshalltown Fire Justice Campaign said it held a successful meeting at the weekend, marking a crucial step forward in the fight for compensation and decent housing for the victims of the Usindiso fire.
The meeting, attended by Usindiso survivors, activists and family members of the victims, emphasised the need for collective legal and political action to demand justice and accountability from the authorities.
“The campaign demands full compensation for the survivors and families of the 77 victims who lost their lives in the tragic fire and decent housing for all victims,” said the Marshalltown Fire Justice Campaign’s Mametlwe Sebei.
“By justice we mean accountability on the part of the City of Johannesburg, compensation for the victims and adequate decent housing for all.”
The Star
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za