East informal settlement blaze claims three lives, hundreds left destitute

At least three people were killed and hundreds more left destitute when a fire broke out at the Plastic View informal settlement, east of Pretoria, on Saturday evening. “The three bodies, which were discovered during firefighting operations, were burned beyond recognition,” Tshwane emergency services spokesperson Charles Mabaso said.

While he said around 100 shacks had been burned down, however, he added that locals estimated that more shacks were ravaged by the blaze – between 400 and 500 shacks. He said that 25 people, including an undisclosed number of children, were transported to hospital while those who were displaced by the blaze were temporarily being accommodated at the NG church neighbouring the informal settlement.

“Mop-up operations were underway and our fire safety and disaster management team had also been activated,” Mabaso said. The circumstances surrounding the cause of the blaze remained unclear.

The blaze at the informal settlement was not the first of its kind, with other incidents recorded in 2020 and 2016. Meanwhile, managing director of the Community Caring Forum Deirdre van Heldsdingen said she wanted the Tshwane metro to do something about relocating the residents of the informal settlement. “It’s exactly one year since the previous fire, and in this whole year nothing is being done to find accommodation for these people and close down Plastic View.

Every year we have the same problem. Every year the shacks burn down, every year they rebuild them – which is against the high court order – and, as a community, we are getting fed-up with this,” she said.

Van Heldsdingen said she had held several meetings with government officials to establish the long term plan for the informal settlement. “But once again, there needs to be speed to sort out this issue because it cannot go on like this,” she said.

SA Cares for Life Founder Sanet Fagan said they were urgently collecting items that would help those who were left destitute, adding that they would be cooking for them at the local school on Sunday morning. Some of the items she said were needed included food items such as maize meal, tinned foods, tea and sugar, household items such as pots, pans, cutlery, crockery, blankets, clothing, sponge mattresses and pillows. Anyone willing to help may contact Fagan on 060 997 5257.

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