The Red Ants sprang into action, clearing an area for a contractor to begin re-building the shacks for the 13 Alex people who lost their homes to a blaze in the early hours of Friday morning, 17 April.
The area affected is Organic Market Settlement in Alexandra.
The MMC for Housing, Mlungisi Mabaso, today, 18 April, joined department officials to assess the extent of the damage caused by the fire. The MMC for Community Development, Margaret Arnolds, who is the oversight MMC for Region E, also joined MMC Mabaso in distributing food parcels and meals to the affected families.
MMC Mabaso said, “While this has caused a setback for families, we are relieved that there was no loss of life as the fire department was able to contain the blaze from damaging more structures in the informal settlement.
“As the department, we have taken a resolution to assist the thirteen families with building material and food parcels after their structures were engulfed in flames yesterday. With the lockdown in full swing, we understand that some hardware stores are currently closed, making it virtually impossible for rebuilding materials to be purchased by community members. We have since appointed a contractor that is currently rebuilding the structures which will also allow for easy access for emergency services vehicles for any possible future occurrence of a fire blaze,” MMC Mabaso added.
MMC Mabaso has called on communities of informal settlements to pay special attention to their use of candles which, in most cases, are the main cause of fires which result in leaving many families homeless, the City of Johannesburg said in a statement.
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