Sports Park residents deny shack fire claims
“The last time we had a fire was months ago.”
Residents of the Sports Park informal settlement in Lyttelton Manor have denied that there was a fire in the area – despite social media posts claiming that shacks burnt down.
Rekord spoke with two residents, Thomas Mofokeng and Thabo Mahlangu, who denied that there was any fire in the settlement this week.
Mofokeng claimed that “the last time we had a fire was months ago”.
“We have not experienced any fires since.”
Mahlangu agreed with Mofokeng, dismissing claims that shacks had burned in the settlement.
“I live here in Sports Park squatter camp, some people are claiming there was a fire here and I can confirm there was no fire here. The only fire we had was months ago,” Mahlangu added.
Farquharson, however, said a fire was reported, which he followed up and later confirmed with a resident who lived nearby.
“It was reported on social media. I followed up with a resident nearby who confirmed there was a minor fire,” Farquharson said.
This comes after community members in the settlement reported a fire ravaged about 80 shacks in the area and left more than 90 people destitute.
However, the fire was not reported to Tshwane emergency services as spokesperson Charles Mabaso confirmed that no call had been logged nor did any staff member attend the scene.
“The inquiry that you are talking about is nowhere reflected on our call capturing system, as such the call seems not to have been reported Tshwane emergency services,” Mabaso added.
ALSO READ: Expect road closures as the EFF protest in Hatfield today
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
