Shacks burn to the ground
Families lose everything in a fire that swept through Lapland.
“The man left his candle burning when he left at 2am to collect rubbish for recycling,” Jeffery Mahumane, a resident said.
Many of the residents from Lapland collect paper, bottles and boxes for recycling, their means of surviving.
The informal settlement in Union Road is filled with plastic bottles and papers collected by residents to exchange for money.
It is also situated next to the landfill site used by Pikitup.
“Many of us lost our income through the fire.
“People watched as their money, scales and papers burnt up,” Mahumane said.
Mahumane started recycling last year after he lost his job at a catering company.
“I had to make money because my baby was born,” he said.
He makes almost R3000 on good days.
Mahumane said it is not safe to live in the area as it is surrounded with flammable products but he has nowhere else to go.
“I would’ve stayed at a better place if I could but there is nowhere else to go,” he said.
This is not the first fire that burnt shacks to the ground, according to Mahumane.
“The fire in December was much worse than the one of today, it almost created a war.
“Nobody wanted to accept responsibility for the cause of the fire and people ended up fighting with each other,” Mahumane said.
He has to rebuild everything he lost in the fire on Thursday.
“I am even walking bare feet because I don’t have shoes anymore.
“I don’t know where I will get a scale and my shack has to be rebuilt,” Mahumane said.
He is appealing to organisations and businesses to assist the affected families.
