Khayelitsha residents angry after fatal fire

Dennis T
Khayelitsha wood and iron structures

The fire broke out at about 2 am from a shack belonging to the man who died, residents said. Khayelitsha residents angry after a fatal fire. Clean-up operations have started after a shack fire in Khayelitsha left one person dead and an undetermined number of people displaced on Saturday morning.

“From what I understand the fire started in his shack. We don’t exactly know what started it because he doesn’t usually cook in there because he has family around who cooks for him,” said community leader Colin Monatiti.

MEC for Housing Bonginkosi Madikizela, along with DA premier candidate Alan Winde and members of the City of Cape Town Council visited the SST section in Khayelitsha earlier on Saturday afternoon to speak to residents.

Tempers flared as residents accused Madikizela of using the disaster to canvas for votes. By 1 pm, fire trucks began vacating the site, leaving residents rummaging through the rubble to salvage what they can to rebuild with others already trying to clear up space and setting up pillars to erect structures to sleep in.

But Madikizela pleaded with residents to stop building and allow officials to clear up the site before a decision can be made on whether to give residents material to start building or take the opportunity to service the site and provide services.

“My view is that let us clear the site and ensure that the very people who live here are settled back but also take advantage and service the area at the same time,” he said.

This was met with some resistance from residents who said they were being fed empty promises.

“How many years have we been living here and begging the government for water and toilets. This is not the first fire here and they wait until something like this happens to feed us lies and empty promises so that we can vote for them,” shouted Sithembiso Damba, a resident.

“Madikizela is a liar who is capitalising on our pain for popularity.” Madikizela later met with community leaders in a bid to get a sense of what to do with the site once it has been cleared. In the meantime, community halls have been organised for residents to sleep in tonight.

Source: IOL News

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