Shack fire kills one and displaces 25
Residents now housed at the community hall
AN EPILEPTIC man died in a fire that left 25 other people homeless in an East London informal settlement on Saturday evening.
When the Dispatch visited Mzamomhle in Gonubie yesterday morning residents were seen collecting what they could salvage of their belongings from the ashes.
Bukiwe Sifolo, whose shack burned first, said they thought the man may have had a fit and knocked the paraffin lamp over. “I gave the guy my shack to live in because I work in Abbotsford and I live with my employers.
“He did not use electricity, he used the lamp and we suspect that he got a fit and knocked the lamp off which then caused the fire.”
The mother of three said: “Everything was burnt. We could not save anything. I do not know how and when I will be able to build another shack. My previous employers gave me the material to build the shack so it will take some time before I make another one.”
Marry Klaas said her family of nine had lost two shacks in the fire. “I heard my child shouting that our shack was on fire and I rushed to the scene. I quickly unlocked the shacks and tried to save some of our belongings. At least we managed to get the bed out but we lost all our electrical appliances.”
The family has moved to another shack Klaas owns in the area.
Ward committee member Azola Peter slammed Buffalo City Metro firefighters for the delay in responding to their fire. “They arrived after an hour and 30 minutes from the time we called them.
“Firefighters do not respond on time. It takes just 30 minutes from town to here. This was an emergency and if they had arrived here early maybe they could have saved some shacks from burning.”
He said people tried using buckets to douse the huge flames. “We ask the municipality to speed up their services because people in shacks struggle a lot whenever there are shack fires.
“We thought if we had electricity there would be no shack fires. We went door-to-door asking people to stop using candles and paraffin lamps but we can’t force people to stop using them.”
BCM spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya disputed claims that firefighters had arrived late. “We received the call at 6.17pm and we arrived at 6.35pm. The scene was under control by 7.39pm.”
Lucas Mfazwe, 39, was left with only the clothes on his back. “I could not save anything. I am unemployed and I do not know how I will be able to build myself another shack. I hope someone offers me a job.”
Ward councillor Boy Boy Kalani said the community hall had been provided as a temporary accommodation for the victims. “We offered to let the people stay at the community hall. We have already registered them with the disaster department and Sassa and they were provided blankets and food at the moment.”
Tracy de Beer of Lia, an NGO also provided blankets and food to the victims.
“God is good. Yesterday the Gonubie Round Table donated blankets and jerseys to us and we took it to the community hall in Mzamomhle. “
East London police spokesperson Hazel Mqala said the man who died was burnt beyond recognition and the cause of the fire was unknown.