Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is on Tuesday calling for the Taiwan informal settlement in Khayelitsha to be declared a local disaster area.
The latest assessment shows about 350 structures were destroyed leaving more than 1,000 residents homeless.
Sisulu visited the site on Monday to assess the damage.
Her spokesperson Steve Motale said: “The minister was very shocked at the conditions. Some of the structures were literally touching each other. If fire breaks out in one structure, then the whole area catches fire.”
The ministry will hold another meeting with local and provincial entities as well as community leaders on Tuesday to establish how the community can be aided on an urgent basis.
Morale said to speed up the process, the settlement had to be declared a local disaster area.
“It will enable the national government to fast-track the availability of funding.”
He said the aim of the meeting was also to find a permanent solution for the fire-ridden community.
“Whenever a disaster of this nature strikes, people were speedily supplied with replacement kits. The minister is discouraging that. She is proposing the erection of permanent structures.”
Today I visited the Taiwan Informal Settlement in Site C, Khayelitsha (Ward 87), in an effort to provide much needed relief after a devastating fire had struck. I was joined by MMC for Human Settlements Malusi Booi, MEC Mr. Simmers, Bongani Hadebe and various stakeholders. pic.twitter.com/e2O9uM84mf
— Lindiwe Sisulu (@LindiweSisuluSA) January 4, 2021
-EWN
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