Plastic View residents pick up pieces after devastating fire

As residents of the Plastic View informal settlement picked up the pieces following a fire that claimed three lives, an NGO that works in the community has asked the public to help out with blankets, cooking utensils and building material donations.

About 100 shacks caught fire on Saturday, displacing more than 500 people.

Residents have started rebuilding their homes with what little material they can find.

With temperatures set to drop this week, the SA Cares for Life NGO has urged people to donate these essentials as many residents were forced to sleep on their pieces of land to avoid losing it to others.

“The food donations are coming along really well, but the people still need blankets as well as pots,” said Sanet Fegan of SA Cares for Life.

READ MORE: Three dogs killed, others rescued in Plastic View fire

“Our school site has become a community centre where the children are housed and can play safely under supervision, while their mothers keep guard of their stands and fathers make plans for rebuilding them.

“There is great teamwork among the residents as they try to rebuild their lives.”

Rekord spoke to some of the women at the informal settlement, who shared their experiences of the ordeal.

Gladys Tshamaano (47) said she and her housemates were sleeping when they heard someone screaming “ku ya sha (there’s a fire)”.

“We went out and saw that the blaze was near. We couldn’t do anything, but try to wake our neighbours up so they could escape,” she said.

“All our belongings are gone. All four of us, including my seven-year-old child, managed to escape unharmed. But I am tired from everything that happened: the running, panic and sleeping without a blanket.”

Tshaamano said she was saddened by the death of the three people, whom she considered neighbours.

“It’s sad that we lost our neighbours,” she said.

“They lived a bit further from where we live, but by they were part of us. This loss of a life is shattering.”

Pamela Dhliwayo (35), who is pregnant with her second child and lived with four other people in her shack, said she lost everything – including the clothes she had bought for the baby she is expecting

“I need clothes for the baby, I could not save a single thing from the fire,” she said.

“It’s incredibly overwhelming to start all over again when we have nothing. But we have to rebuild.

“We would appreciate any help that we can get.”

Another woman, Dorothy Mupande (38), said what little money she had ended up in ashes.

All she could worry about at the time was saving herself, her one-year-old child and the nine other people she lived with.

“It’s so devastating that during a pandemic, we find ourselves homeless and stranded,” she said

“One of the men living with us doesn’t even have shoes on his feet as we speak.”

The women also made a plea for building material, food and clothes.

Anyone willing to help, may contact Fagan at 060 997 5257.

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