Shack victims’ unending suffering

Victims of a morning shack fire on 29 June in 2nd Avenue, Alex, were saved from deep-indebtedness to mashonisas (illegal money lenders) by well-wishers.

The fire which razed 23 shacks to the ground, left hundreds homeless and with only the clothes they had on when the fire raged on a cold Friday spell. The misfortune compounded the victims’ plight when they were forced to gaze helplessly at the fire when the first fire truck seeming arrived without water and the second one which came later is said to have arrived to douse out the tail end of the ruinous fire.

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The victims turned to neighbours who in true African spirit and with no qualm about overcrowding, harboured them as they picked up the pieces trying to rebuild their lives, and to the almighty for help. This came in various ways from the well-wishers who donated clothes and building items. This after council registered and provided them with its limited-standard disaster relief packs.

The victims who were engaged by this reporter a week later said the support was a huge relief to their limited resources as most of them are unemployed. Others who had relocated to their rural KwaZulu-Natal homes to escape the urban economic hardship – leaving tenants or relatives guarding their shacks – hurried back to find whatever was theirs also turned to soot.

The huge financial, sentimental and emotional loss of homes was for some, worsened by their lack of savings and credit lines, forcing them to turn to loan sharks for loans with exorbitant interest to buy material to rebuild their homes. “Unemployed and living from hand to mouth through piece jobs and street trading we lead painful urban lives reliant on mashonisas who milk us dry when faced with emergencies like this,” Jabu Mcunu said.

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He said an ordinary standard one-roomed shack of two by two metres cost between R3 500 and R5 000 with labour to construct. Materials are said to cost between R750 to R2 000 depending on whether they are pre-used or new, and the size of the structure. Mashonias are said to charge them interest of between 50 to 100 per cent on the capital which is compounded exponentially when the repayment period is extended.

Other victims blamed their vulnerability to loan sharks on successive broken promises of houses by the government. “It’s tragic, especially when our representative councillors are part of the over 20 years of failed promises.

“Sometimes, they dispatch remorseless red ants to kick us out of the shacks, in the process destroying and stealing our property with no one held accountable,” said Winnie Ngema who was rebuilding her shack which said cost her about R3 500 excluding her tenants’ assets.

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Fellow victim Jabu Mavundla who lost two shacks and her tenants’ property is uncertain of her recovery without insurance.

Another victim who was putting final touches on his reconstructed home using used materials, thanked his gods. “I was woken up from a deep sleep and with others congregated helplessly as the fire engulfed all that we had.”