Fourteen Alex families who live on the corner of 8th Avenue and Vincent Tshabalala Road were left homeless after a fire razed their shacks.
The families lost all their possessions which included identity documents and children’s birth certificates.
The fire was suspected to have been caused by a stove left on and unattended in one of the shacks. Emergency Management Services attended to the blaze with the assistance of residents using buckets of water which helped save more shacks.
The shocked victims who gathered to receive temporary social assistance such as clothing from the Department of Social Services said they were concerned about where they would sleep for the night, especially their children, at a time when temperatures are expected to plummet.
Victim Mike Tsukwana said he lost everything except for the clothes he was wearing. He received a call about the fire and had to rush home from his Sandton-based job, only to find everything destroyed. “I don’t know where to start,” he lamented.
Most victims said they were expecting to receive further assistance from social services and other well-wishers as they regrouped to start new lives with only meagre incomes.
