Africa-Press – South-Africa. Three children were among six people who died when five shacks caught alight in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, in the early hours of Saturday.
City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said they were notified just after 01:00 that structures were alight in SST Section, Town 2. Crews from Lansdowne, Macassar and Mitchells Plain were dispatched to the scene.
“Upon arrival, it was found several structures [were] burning, and crews were informed of more than one person unaccounted for,” he said.
Three children and three adults died, and “one adult male was rushed to hospital via ambulance as he received 3rd-degree burn wounds and was in a critical condition”, Carelse added.
A resident, Nobom Twaise, 34, told News24 she was told that a paraffin burner was knocked over accidentally during load shedding in the area.
Provincial police have opened an inquest docket.
“The cause of the fire is yet to be determined,” Sergeant Wesley Twigg said.
Khayelitsha Development Forum spokesperson Ndithini Tyhido said the community had once again been “rudely reminded” just how “cruel” the City of Cape Town is.
He said:
He said residents have been waiting in vain for the houses promised to them, and the more they wait, the greater the chance of such an incident.
News24 previously reported that the City, Western Cape government and other stakeholders were said to be addressing the housing issues in the area.
The City said it owned the vacant site but added it had given power of attorney to the provincial government to enable it to submit a land use application to apply for the rezoning and subdivision of the area.
“This approval is in order to develop a temporary relocation area which will provide approximately 770 residential units in three-storey blocks to accommodate transitory households in permanent accommodation,” the City said.
It said the developer had, in the interim, commenced with some work on the site. The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure, which deals with housing, added that while it was issued with power of attorney, it had its limitations.
The department’s Muneera Allie previously said the Silvertown project was delayed because a land availability agreement (LLA) hadn’t been signed and approved by the City. Asked when the housing project would commence, she said building would start as soon as the department receives a signed LAA, which would allow for the submission of building plans approved by the City.
Allie said the dwellings would each be split into two, delivering 1 542 houses to beneficiaries. However, ward councillor Thando Pimpi expressed concern.
“All these lives lost in these fires in the area could’ve been avoided had the City just signed off the papers to start the building. I can’t understand what the holdup is. Our people are dying in shacks waiting to be moved into their proper housing.”
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