No injuries after another fire breaks out in Joburg CBD building

There were no injuries after yet another fire broke out in a building in the Johannesburg CBD.

Joburg Emergency Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said they attended to the fire just after 9pm on Wednesday.

No injuries

“City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services firefighters attended to a residential building on fire reported in Joburg CBD corners of Plein and Claim Street.

“The fire is believed to have started on the 6th floor of the building, which affected only one room with no injuries,” Mulaudzi said.

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Mulaudzi said the cause of the fire will be investigated.

Jeppestown fire

The blaze follows the tragic death of four people in a fire at an abandoned building in Jeppestown, Johannesburg CBD, early on Saturday morning.

The fire, which started in one of the derelict structures, left three others injured and at least 400 people stranded at the three-storey structure.

Mulaudzi said the fire may have started from an illegal connection.

No electricity account

On Monday, City Power said the property had no registered electricity account.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said it remains unclear what the actual cause of the fire was in the Joburg CBD. Law enforcement agencies and Emergency Services are busy investigating.

“City Power has discovered that the burnt property, which is privately owned, has no registered electricity account. It has therefore been established that the power supply to that building was illegally connected from at least two load centres.”

Mangena said City Power has been intensifying efforts to address the crippling problem of illegal connections in the Joburg CBD through the introduction of the load reduction campaign.

Emergency housing plan

Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has called for the City of Joburg to establish an emergency housing plan for victims of the fire.

Acting provincial manager of the SAHRC, Mateenah Hunter-Parsonage, said the city should fulfil its constitutional obligations without waiting for incidents of this nature to happen.

“The recent fire incident underscores the urgency of the situation and the need for the city to plan for safe emergency housing, provide services in these buildings, and offer affordable housing in the inner city.

“The commission urges the City not to wait for disasters like these to occur before fulfilling its constitutional obligations,” Hunter-Parsonage said.

The SAHRC is part of the Usindiso inquiry and, to date, has inspected over 40 buildings as part of the second phase of the investigation.

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