Usindiso building fire victims allegedly told to leave by this weekend

The Usindiso building fire victims have described the living conditions of the government-sponsored accommodation they were given in Hofland Park Community Centre in Bezuidenhout Valley as unbearable.

The Hofland Park Community Centre was one of the buildings temporarily housing the residents of the burned building in Johannesburg central business district.

In August, a deadly fire engulfed the five-storey hijacked Usindiso building and claimed 77 lives, 12 children among them. Authorities said 62 were burnt beyond recognition.

More than 120 people now live at the Hofland Park Community Centre, with over 50 sleeping on the floors.

The halls are covered with mattresses, along with makeshift kitchens. There is only one bathroom, used by both men and women.

Living situation getting worse by the day

Peter Mbwambo, one of the people now living at the community centre, said the living situation was getting worse by the day.

“Since 31 August, we are here. When we got here, things were okay. They used to bring us food and provided blankets.

“The organisations used to care about us, but now the situation is not good at all,” he said.

“We need support. We are pleading for government to find a way to help us because a lot has changed.

“We are hungry. It’s been three weeks now with no-one coming to assist with food like they did.”

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Mbwambo claimed some of his fellow residents had been given R2 000 to move out. It is understood the residents have been told to leave by the end of this week.

“Some got it and some didn’t. I did not get it. Either way, we don’t have anything. Where were we going to start with R2 000?

“When that fire happened, I lost everything.

“I don’t choose to live like this. I used to live in my own room. I used to pay rent and I had a shop inside the building which also burnt down.

“But now everything is messed up. It is difficult for me because I used to work. I came out of that fire with only my trousers on.”

Mother tired of talking about her pain

A mother who requested anonymity for personal reasons, said she was tired of talking about her pain and problems.

“When we got here, everything was fine. The Red Cross organisation would bring us food and management would take care of us, but things changed,” she said.

“The manager, Mohau Mokwena, has told us he is tired of us. We do not even know where he is.

“Sometimes we have water and electricity, but sometimes we don’t. We are living with babies here and we are really struggling.

“The government does nothing for us. The organisations who used to help are not there anymore.

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“This situation hurts especially because we are living with children and babies.”

On day two of the commission of inquiry into the Usindiso building fire yesterday, Johannesburg emergency management services platoon commander Lucas Thipa outlined the challenges encountered by firefighters in accessing the building during the fire.

Thipa, as a first responder, said the evacuation of people from the building was a prolonged process.

“Every floor was locked and every room the people were staying in was locked. We had to do forcible entry in every room we went into against all those flames.

“What also made it difficult is the amount of bodies, especially on the ground floor and the first floor,” he said.

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“We can’t just jump the body and go to the next floor. So, what we do is a searching recovery: everybody we find we take outside and go to the next floor. That process on its own takes time.

“To go into every room that was fully engulfed with flames, we have to control the fires; we have to look through for any bodies. So that was, amongst others, that were the challenges we had.”