Flat residents with nowhere to go vow to move back
Babies‚ some as young as seven months old‚ were among scores of people who were forced to sleep on the cold pavement last night after the dilapidated Johannesburg building they called home went up in flames on Wednesday morning.
Yesterday morning‚ the displaced homeless people lay mattresses against the walls of a primary school across the road from Cape York building at the corner of Nugget and Rahima Moosa (Jeppe) streets.
Seven people died in the blaze while scores were hurt.
“We actually did get a bit of sleep although it was cold‚” said MaButhelezi‚ who was one of the committee members of the rundown building.
“We had police around, so it was not unsafe‚” she added.
“Yesterday [Wednesday], officials came and gave blankets to some people but there wasn’t enough for everyone‚” she said.
The crowd was given soup and two slices of bread for dinner. While some had already woken up and left the area‚ others waited to see if any breakfast would be provided.
“It’s so hard‚ my sister. They threw water on us‚ telling us to move from here‚” said one foreign national‚ referring to business owners who wanted them to move so they could open their shops for the day.
Meanwhile, it was business as usual as hawkers laid out their lollipops‚ chips‚ sweets and bubble gum on their cardboard stands on the pavement amid the stranded crowd.
While some of the displaced crowd had vowed to return to the building after police and forensic investigators left on Wednesday‚ this didn’t happen.
“We are told they still want to check if there are more bodies inside‚” said MaButhelezi.
Of the seven people who perished in the fire, one died after jumping out of the window on the second floor.
The other six died inside – some from smoke inhalation and others from the flames.
However, residents said not everyone had been accounted for. It was possible‚ however‚ that some people had decided to seek shelter elsewhere after hearing that the building had been shut down.
“We hear we may be allowed back into the building after three days, but we don’t have anywhere to go until then‚” another woman said.
‘‘ They still want to check if there are more bodies inside [the building]