Fire victims from Graveyard Pond informal settlement in Philippi are appealing to the City of Cape Town to relocate them to new houses.
This comes after one resident was allegedly burnt beyond recognition in a shack fire on Sunday 4 September.
At least 17 shacks burnt down and more than 30 people were left homeless in the incident.
The cause of the shack fire is still unknown.
One victim, who identified himself only as Luja, said the shack fire started in the early hours of Sunday. He said he lost almost everything.
“The fire started around 3am. I was still sleeping when I heard people shouting ‘fire! fire!’. As I was sleeping in shorts and a T-shirt I just grabbed my other bag with my documents and clothes, and ran outside,” he said, adding all of his other belongings burnt as he was unable to go back in.
He said it’s not the first time the area has been affected by shack fires.
Luja said the City had vowed to relocate the residents as the area had been deemed unsafe. However, there had been no progress in getting them to another area.
The informal settlement is built on a wetland, making it impossible to render crucial municipal services.
Ward 34 councillor Melikhaya Gadeni stated the issue of housing development remained unclear.
“The City once came to the area about 10 years ago to assess the situation and found it is wetlands and therefore could not provide services,” he said.
“Even now there’s no electricity or flushing toilets there. Residents have only temporary toilets and are on the outskirts of the area along the road. People residing in the middle of the area have to walk outside the area to temporary toilets.”
Gadeni said that since the area was established more than two decades ago no people had been moved to new houses.
However, he vowed to follow it up with the City.
“We are appealing to whomever for donations of clothes, food, blankets and building materials to shack-fire victims. People lost everything, all their belongings, in the shack fire.”
Gadeni added that some of the shack-fire victims were staying with relatives and friends.
He said anyone wishing to donate can drop their special gift at his office or contact him on 082 380 1678.
Nyanga police had not yet responded to City Vision at the time of going to print.