Usindiso building fire survivors deserve closure

Saturday marked exactly one year since the tragic fire at the Usindiso Building in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, claimed 77 lives.

Sadly, many of the survivors are still struggling to get justice and closure. Imagine still not being able to identify a loved one’s body, 365 days later?

That’s exactly the frustration and pain Malawian national Mike Ngulube has had to endure after he lost his wife, Joyce Banda, and their one-year-old daughter, Memory, in the fire.

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While grieving, Ngulube discovered the mortuary had given his child’s body to the wrong family. Attempts for DNA samples have yielded no results, and he’s desperate to bury his child back home.

Ngulube said: “It haunts me every day. Even now, one year later, I don’t have any answers. All I want is the body of my child to be buried next to her mother back home. What keeps me awake is that I can visit my wife’s grave when I miss her, but what about my child? We’re talking about a human being, my blood, not just a number. I feel let down by the SA government.”

Ngulube is not alone, 17 other bodies of those who died are yet to be identified. Human rights activist Andy Chinnah said: “It’s been taxing emotionally because you see people being uprooted by a disaster, losing everything in the fire. Some are sleeping under a bridge because that’s how desperate they are but we won’t stop fighting for these people.”

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Chinnah added: “Every administration tells us they’re doing something, but when we ask for the plans, we never see them. Without continuity and real engagement with plans and set goals, nothing will change.”

The City of Joburg has not taken any specific action in response to the findings of the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry, which found the city liable for the tragedy and that the Joburg Property Company must be called to account.

What are they doing to ensure this doesn’t happen again?

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