The fire that forced scores of families from their homes in the Angelo informal settlement was set deliberately, according to the victims.
Residents told the Advertiser on Monday afternoon that someone doused the shacks with what appeared to be petrol and set them alight before fleeing the area.
Some residents were not home at the time, but others, adults and children, were in their shacks when the fire broke out.
Fortunately, all the occupants of the shacks escaped unharmed from the inferno, but their homes and possessions were completely destroyed in the fire.
Damage to the homes and their contents were estimated at hundreds of thousands of Rand.
The victims are now staying with friends, family and neighbours until they find material to rebuild their shacks.
“We’ve lost our homes, our personal property and also our sense of security. Everything we own and cherish is gone,” said Thulani Khalimasha, who lost the home he was sharing with his wife and his schoolgoing child.
Khalimasha, his wife and child were not home when the flames broke out, and the family now faces losses of upwards of R10 000.
Community leaders strongly condemned the act, adding that it was totally irresponsible and could have caused serious personal harm to the occupants of the shacks.
According to residents, the fire began at about 6.30pm, and emergency crews arrived on the scene within a few minutes.
It took firefighters less than two hours to subdue the raging flames.
Disaster management services provided the affected families with food and blankets.
However, the families said there was not enough food, and when the Advertiser revisited the area on Monday afternoon, it was already finished.
Disaster management services were, on Tuesday, still organising accommodation for the displaced families, some of whom included schoolgoing children.
Anyone who wants to donate something to the affected families can contact one of the community leaders, Jerry Africa, on 076 147 4194.
Boksburg SAPS spokesperson, Lieut-Col Kwendzakwakhe Ngobese, confirmed that an arson investigation was launched after the fire forced 42 families from their homes.
“No arrest has been made so far, but our detectives are on the hunt for an arsonist after the shacks were torched, leaving multiple families displaced,’ said Ngobese.
A source told this publication that the recent fatal stabbing of a man inside the Angelo Hotel sparked the violence in the informal settlement.
Romeo Nene died on the scene after he was stabbed, allegedly by a Lesotho national, during the early hours of Sunday, March 6.
The source added that there are now growing tensions between the Basotho nationals and locals.
“One of the shacks that was burnt down was the home of the suspected killer, who is said to have disappeared after the stabbing on Sunday morning,” said the source.
Anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the suspected arsonist and suspected Basotho man is asked to call the Boksburg police on 011 841 6859. -@FanieFLK
Dozens left homeless after shack fire in Angelo
