Princess informal settlement suffers another debilitating blaze

The day before Woman’s Day, the residents of the Princess informal settlement had to endure yet another fire that left many homeless, reports Roodepoort Record.

About 25 families lost all of their belongings, including identification documents, children’s school books and their school uniforms. The only clothing that they have left is what they were wearing on the day of the fire.

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According to the ward 71 councillor René Benjamin, no injuries were reported. She also mentioned that the firefighters and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department responded very quickly to the emergency.

The councillors from Ward 85 (Sonja Meyer), Ward 82 (Susan Stewart) and Ward 84 (Gert Niemand), teamed up to assist at the scene. They delivered food packages and water for all the affected residents.

Two days before this fire, Councillor Stewart had had to deal with a shack fire within her ward, at Kathrada Park. She gave the excess of the goods donated to Kathrada Park to the residents at Princess.

Councillor Benjamin also called one of her contacts at South Africa Against Rape, and they also helped with a food donation.

Councillor Meyer will meet with officials from Disaster Management and Social Services, to organise the donation of more items. These will be collected and distributed on Saturday morning.

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