Ward 75 councillor in the City of Johannesburg, Sanie Mavhona, has urged the business community and humanitarian organisation to lend a helping hand to the victims of a recent fire.
This was after the residents of Ruth Street and 3rd Avenue informal settlement in Alexandra lost their all their valuables in the recent catastrophic shacks fire that swept away 46 shacks and left more than 60 people, including schoolchildren, homeless on 10 May this year.
One of the fire victims, Nokuthula Nxumalo (37), said her husband only managed to take out a few items of clothing when the fire broke out.
“I lost almost everything in the fire incident. My husband who was in the house when the fire broke out, only managed to save a few items and the rest including food turned into ashes. We were fortunate that he was home when the incident happened and managed to save our ID’s,” she said.
Emergency Management Services (EMS) of the City of Johannesburg spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, said there were no fatalities reported as a result of the inferno. “Our team managed to successfully extinguish the blazing shacks fire in 3rd Avenue on Friday, 10 May this year under difficult circumstances since there was no water in the area. It is alleged that the fire was kindled by paraffin stove that was left unattended. No fatalities were reported as a result of the inferno.”
Mulaudzi appealed to the residents to refrain from leaving stoves and candles unattended in case of power outages in the area.
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