Clairwood factory fire leaves hundreds homeless
The factory housed Congalese, Malawians, Zimbabweans and South African citizens who were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
CLOSE to 300 Clairwood residents were left displaced and homeless after an abandoned factory was destroyed in a fire on Tuesday evening, 14 July.
According to ward 32 PR councillor, Sharmaine Sewshanker, the fire started at the back of the factory, situated at 288 South Coast Road, and quickly spread through the six floor building. The fire department extinguished the fire and no injuries were reported.
The factory housed Congalese, Malawians Zimbabweans and South African citizens and left victims with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Sewshanker shared that the incident has put a spotlight on the illegal occupation of buildings in and around the city. “Compliance and the contravention of the City’s bad buildings bylaws must investigated. This city simply cannot allow people to reside in factory warehouses illegally where there are no proper facilities and safety in place,” she said.
According to Sewshanker, Disaster Management only arrived a day after the fire took place at 3.30pm. “No shelter, blankets, relief supplies or food were made available to the displaced individuals who spent a night on the street guarding whatever possessions they could salvage from the fire. I am most disappointed with the city’s Disaster Management Unit as they only took names of people without offering any relief aid or offer to shelter the people. The country is under level three lockdown and the Disaster Management Unit should be on top of their game and fully equipped to deal with all disasters. The residents were huddled together in shock, no social distancing and without masks. Some of the elderly were lying on the pavements suffering from smoke inhalation.”
She obtained permission from the city to erect the tents at the Dayal Road grounds until alternate arrangements could be made. “It was heartbreaking to leave women and children on the sidewalk and pavement for two nights,” she added.
Efforts to reach the city’s Disaster Management Unit for comment proved unsuccessful by the time of going to print.
If anyone wishes to assist with warm clothing and blankets, they can contact Sharmaine Sewshanker on 079-505-8505.
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