In regard to the recent shack fires at the Cinderella Hostel, a couple of issues need to be set straight.
We are disappointed in the way that this tragedy has been politicised by the main opposition party while, at the same time, showing disregard and total disrespect for the dignity of the victims, and the way they have ridiculed the role of the municipal officials.
On top of that, the opposition party’s contribution was very minimal.
We remain disappointed at how this opposition party has abused the misery of the victims in this case.
To clarify: on the day of the fire, I received a call at around midnight, from a Cinderella Hostel resident, alerting me to the fire that was destroying shacks next to to the old Cinderella Mine trading store.
I rushed to the place and, indeed, there was fire destroying the shacks.
On my way to the hostel I passed the fire station and requested that they attend to the situation, and they immediately dispatched about two engines to deal with the disaster.
For about three hours the firefighters battle with the fire, but could not save any shacks.
A total of 15 shacks were destroyed.
Again, the first thing the ANC did was to dispatch some of its leaders to engage the disaster management unit to respond and assist in this matter.
The disaster management unit responded by delivering emergency kits consisting of food and blankets. We then arranged with the shop owner to accommodate the people in need for the night of the tragedy.
The morning following the fire, a Human Settlement contractor came in to rebuild the burnt shacks.
We want to congratulate the Ekurhuleni teams for their speedy response and we would like to also extended our gratitude to other people and parties who contributed food and clothing to assist the fire victims in attempts to normalise their lives.
