Another catastrophic shacks fire in Alexandra in less than a month
ALEXANDRA – The fire that swept through shacks in the early hours of the morning and left more than 70 families homeless.
Some residents of 703 Old Pretoria Road informal settlement in Wynberg were the victims of a fire that swept through shacks in the early hours of 28 March.
It is alleged that a man who was praying by candlelight, fell asleep and his blankets caught fire. The resultant blaze left more than 70 families homeless.
Pemla Mayela, community leader and a neighbour of the man, said, “I heard him praying at around 12 [midnight] and a few hours later I heard a sound like something had exploded. We went out to see what was happening and the guy went out running and said nothing to us. “We had to use the funeral parlour’s hose pipes to extinguish the fire.”
Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said there were no fatalities reported and the disaster management team was on the scene to investigate the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage.
The affected families received donated food parcels from local businessman and philanthropist Linda Twala who has appealed to City officials to find an alternative safe place where these residents could be relocated to.
On 5 March, 80 shacks in Stjwetla informal settlement were destroyed by a fire apparently caused by a live high-voltage cable that had fallen onto the shacks.
Councillor Jeff Pietersen of Ward 91 said he would submit an incident report to the City council which would then decide whether the residents of 703 informal settlement could be relocated.
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Residents of Stjwetla Informal settlement sit on a ticking time bomb
