Family feud destroys 26 shacks leaving scores of residents homeless in Alexandra
ALEX – Woman said she will never forget the day after she and her children cheated death when they escaped the flames of an inferno after her boyfriend set their shack alight.
A total number of 26 families had to be temporally sheltered in Alexandra Baptist Church after a wave of fire swept away their shacks on 12th Avenue on Sunday, 9 August.
The fire was allegedly kindled by a boyfriend after he had a fight over money with his girlfriend.
A 29-year-old mother of two and hairdresser, Zimkhitha Phindani said she will never forget the day on which she and her two children escaped the flames of death after her boyfriend poured fuel on a burning stove during a fight over money.
“We had a fight over my money that he used to buy alcohol and he got angry and went to buy petrol to burn the house. He said he was tired of being a failing father after he lost his job during the lockdown.
“He went out and came back with a container full of petrol and poured it on the burning stove. When I realised that he was trying to kill us, I grabbed my children to escape the flames. Some members of the community came and pulled him out of the house and he suffered injuries.”
Phindani added that her boyfriend was rushed to Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital after he suffered burn wounds. Ward 107 councillor in the City of Johannesburg Ambe Maseko said the City of Johannesburg and humanitarian organisations were on-site helping residents to rebuild their homes and offering counselling.
“We are helping all fire victims rebuild their homes. The city and humanitarian organisation have been on the ground since day one of the incident and we will be with them until they finish rebuilding their homes,” Maseko said.
Alexandra Police Station spokesperson, Constable Simphiwe Mbatha said there was no case opened by victims at the station.
Alexandra philanthropist and well-known businessman Linda Twala, who donated food parcels and blankets to the victims, has appealed to authorities in the City of Johannesburg to speed up the process of de-densification of informal settlement in Alexandra to avoid more deaths as a result of shack fires.
“We cannot continue living like this. Our government need to do something to stop unnecessary deaths as a result of shack fires. Every year we bury people who perish because of fire and it cannot be accepted after 26 years into democracy,” Twala said.
In July this year, the City’s Housing Department started a process of building 2 000 temporary residential units in Marlboro in a bid to de-densify some highly congested areas in Alexandra, especially informal settlements.
