Pomona residents left desperate after the destructive fire
According to one of the community leaders at the settlement, Joseph Lephatsa, over 170 shacks were completely destroyed.
Residents of the informal settlement on EP Malan Road, Pomona, were left stranded after the raging fire on August 16 destroyed everything they owned.
ALSO READ: Burnt body of man discovered after Pomona fire
A man was burnt beyond recognition during the fire that engulfed the informal settlement also referred to as ‘Spaza’.
According to one of the community leaders at the settlement, Joseph Lephatsa, over 170 shacks were destroyed.
Residents affected shared the same sentiments that they couldn’t save much of their belongings as the fire started around 01:40.
“I was woken up by the noise from outside. When I woke up I could see a bright light from outside and when I went to check that is when I saw the fire and people running around,” said Knowledge Tshaka.
“My brother had also woken up when I went back inside the shack.
“We tried to take things out but we couldn’t save much as the fire spread fast and we only managed to save blankets.
“When we went back inside, the fire had already enveloped the shack next to ours.”
Knowledge’s brother, Nyasha, also told Express how he also lost everything including his laptop, passport, bed and phone.
Occasion Runesu, who lives with her 18-month-old daughter, returned to a burnt-down home as she was not around on the day of the fire.
“I was shocked when I returned later in the evening. I didn’t even know that there was a fire as no one called me.
“I was shattered when I only found a burnt spring mattress and the remains of the foundation of my shack,” Runesu shared a day after the fire.
“The clothes that my daughter and I are wearing are the only clothes that we have left. Everything else was burnt.
“I am fortunate that one of the people whose property was not affected by the fire has accommodated my daughter and me until I can rebuild.
“I don’t know when that will be as I have no money and have a lot to buy including food, building material and clothes.”
Yvonne Morakile, a mother of five, said she could only save her children’s birth certificates.
“I woke up when I heard noise from outside and thought there was a fight. I peeped through the window and I saw the fire. I woke my family and woke some of my friends and neighbours,” said Morakile.
“The first thing that came to my mind was saving my children’s lives and my own. I had to get them to a place of safety and tried to go back to save our belongings.
It was too late for me to save anything else either than the birth certificates as the fire spread rapidly.
ALSO READ: No injuries reported following the Pomona fire
“My ID and clinic card also got burnt and I am on medication. I don’t even know where to start.
“My children have had to go to Daveyton to their dad as we have no place to sleep.
“Most of us slept out in the cold next to the braziers we built as we had nowhere to go.
“We are not receiving any assistance from the municipality. We are using the burnt material to rebuild our shacks.”
Morakile said Shoprite assisted them with bread and soup the morning after the fire.
“The fire started at the shack that belonged to the man who was burnt beyond recognition,” said Lephatsa.
“I also lost everything; we couldn’t save anything.”
The community leader also said members of the Gift of The Givers Foundation arrived at the settlement to assist them.
“We received bread and oranges from Pick n Pay and someone from a church in Benoni also came to donate blankets.
“We truly are grateful for everyone who has assisted us, it means a lot as we need all the help that we can get.”
ALSO READ: Informal settlement economy discussed in Thembisa
Laphatsa said they need blankets, clothes for men, women and children, food and building materials.
Northfield Methodist Church in Benoni also donated a lot of clothes and metro police together with members from DEMS assisted with the distribution of the clothes to ensure everyone was catered for.
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