Firefighters struggle as 500 lose homes
Affected residents get starter packs to assist rebuilding houses
MORE than 500 people were left homeless when a fire broke out in the Chris Hani Park informal settlement at Nomzamo, Strand.
Ward councillor Sitembile Mfecane said even though he was not in the area to sympathise with the families affected, he bemoanedwhat had happened.
“The situation is an unfortunate one and we hope to be as effective as possible when it comes to assisting those affected by the fire,” he said.
“These victims were getting ready for Christmas but now they have lost everything. It is required of the community to help wherever they can,” he said.
Tsoarelo Kopolo, clerk for Mfecane, said residents claimed to have witnessed one of the victim’s boyfriend attempt to burn down her shack. This caused the fire.
“From what I have witnessed, firefighters struggled to put down the fires. One of them was injured. They did, however, do an amazing job,” he said.
Other residents claimed that the fire was caused by illegal electricity connections in the area.
One of the victims Ndileka Goqa, 36, said that she had to throw her 13-year-old disabled son into a canal to save his life. She and her family had lost everything in the fire and have nowhere to go.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security and social services JP Smith confirmed that the City’s disaster and rescue team gave affected residents starter packs to rebuild their homes on Saturday afternoon. To further assist the families affected by the fire in Strand, you can contact Tsoarelo Kopolo on 064 156 9365.
Meanwhile the City connected several families in Hout Bay, who lost their dwellings in the devastating fire earlier this year to the electricity grid. They employed 18 residents from Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay to help with the electrification of two parts of the area which helped 355 fire-affected families.
The majority of the families had their power switched on while the work on other properties will be completed over the weekend.
“The City is making progress in electrifying several sections of the area as part of the super-blocking process. In August this year, we also switched on the electricity in the first section of the fire-affected area in Madiba Square,” said mayor Patricia de Lille.