- The national Department of Human Settlements provided building materials to 36 shack-fire victims from Vag ‘n Bietjie, Green Point, and Pholile informal settlements.
- Fires occurred on separate occasions, with the largest in Vag ‘n Bietjie on 24 December, affecting 72 shacks and claiming one life.
- Ward 86 councillor Xolani Diniso urged residents to practice fire safety, especially during load shedding, and avoid cooking while intoxicated.
At least 36 shack-fire victims from different areas received building material on Monday 24 February donated by the national Department of Human Settlements.
The group of people gathered in an open space near Nomzamo Primary School.
The beneficiaries were from Vag ‘n Bietjie (13 people), Green Point (9 people) and Pholile (14 people) informal settlements.Giving the background to these incidents, Ward 86 councillor Xolani Diniso said the fires occurred on separate occasions.
“The first incident occurred at Vag ‘n Bietjie on the 24 December last year. There were 72 shacks affected, and one person died. But 59 of them had already received the building material on 29 December last year and there were only 13 people left because they were in Eastern Cape when the incident occurred.
“The second incident occurred at Pholile informal settlement on Tuesday 14 January and the third incident occurred at Green Point on Monday 27 January,” explained Diniso.
He urged the people to stop cooking when under the influence of liquor.“Now that the load shedding is back, people must make sure that they switch off all their electrical appliances.
“And they must cook before they go to the shebeen,” he warned.One of the beneficiaries, Maliviwe Ntshobodwa from Pholile, said he was happy with the building material, and would probably extend his shack.
“I had already built my shack, but it was a bit small because I didn’t have enough material. Now, I will build another room for my children.”
The father of two said he lost almost everything in the fire.
Ntshobodwa said he managed to rescue a table, two chairs, a mattress and bag of clothes.