Cape Town - A couple lost their lives in SST Town Two, Khayelitsha, where 152 shacks caught fire, displacing 532 people on Sunday night. Some informal dwellers later wanted to invade an open space not far from the scene that was allegedly promised to them since 2018, to avoid the recurring fires in the area.
Hundreds of people, including children, were forced to sleep outside on Sunday following a blaze that destroyed every item they owned.
A man known by the community allegedly fell asleep while cooking, causing the blaze.
Resident Vuyo Mgodeli, who stays not far from the area, said he was informed about the fire at about 9pm on Sunday and rushed to the scene because his sister lived there.
The man who allegedly started the fire is reported to have run for his life when he realised his shack had caught fire.
A relative of one of the dead, Siyabulela Mtwazi, said he saw smoke before checking on his cousin, Sipho Mthini, 39. When he got to his shack he tried to open a burglar gate with no success. Mthini also did not respond when he called his name.
“After failing to open the gate and not hearing his response, I thought maybe he went to sleep at his girlfriend’s place in Makhaya, Mandela Park. When I got to the girlfriend’s home I was told they left together. Only in the morning did a neighbour inform me that his body was retrieved along with that of his girlfriend, Neliswa, around the same age as him.
“I don’t know how I’ll bury him because he did not have funeral cover. Our family are in the Eastern Cape.”
During the rebuild, a group of men were stopped by City officers, including police, as they tried to invade an open space in what would be a “proper development” for some fire victims.
The men said they have been waiting since 2018 for the promised land to be developed for them, and nothing has been done.
Khayelitsha Development Forum chairperson, Ndithini Tyhido, said the men prevented from building their shacks on an allocated land are chance takers, “however the white people who govern the Western Cape take blacks’ lives for granted”.
“We are in this mess now because these people could not sign a land availability agreement between the City and the provincial government. More than 700 people who are yet again victims of fire since 2018 would have been housed on this land otherwise.”
Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay said they assisted the victims with food and necessities, and will do so for the next five days.
Police spokesperson Nowonga Sukwana said: “Harare police have opened an inquest case. Reports suggest two people were burnt beyond recognition. We cannot speculate as to what caused the fire.”