DA welcome shack fire assistance
Member of Parliament and DA Johannesburg East Constituency Head, Jack Bloom, was pleased to see help provided to shack fire victims recently.
Last week the EXPRESS published an article about a fire in George Goch and Platform Five in Jeppestown.
MPL Bloom said he visited the scene of both devastating shack fires.
“I was pleased to see that the Johannesburg metro council commissioned the Red Ants to put up shacks to help the victims of these fire disasters. The Red Ants put up 157 replacement shacks at the George Goch Informal Settlement using a mix of new and old materials.
“The Red Ants have been instructed to put up 280 shacks at the Platform Five informal settlement in Jeppestown. It seems that they have heeded my call to provide shack materials as is done in the city of Cape Town, which has a formal policy in this regard,” he said.
He said he hopes the provision of shack emergency housing kits becomes a formal policy throughout Gauteng. He has written to Gauteng Premier David Makhura, in this regard.
“Fire departments should also assist with fire prevention, as more than 1 000 shack fires occur every year in Gauteng, causing deaths and hurting the poorest of the poor,” he said.
@JoziReporter
