City of Johannesburg speaker Colleen Makhubele told media on Thursday morning that the dozens of people who died or were injured in the fire that ripped through a city-owned building in Marshalltown overnight, had been contravening by-laws.
According to the city, the building was once leased to an NGO, but had since been abandoned.
Speaking from the scene of the devastation – where 73 people have thus far been confirmed dead, among them children and babies – Makhubele said the events surrounding the blaze were “no different” to the flooding deaths that take place in the province every year.
People were illegally constructing homes or occupying buildings “willy-nilly” without regard for by-laws, she said.
She said the city did not have “world class citizens” who heeded the law.
She also accused NGOs of scuppering the city’s attempts to evict illegal occupiers, via court action.
“[The fire] is a tragedy and we are saddened by it, I don’t care if the [occupants] were illegal foreigners or not,” she also told journalists.
So-called hijacked buildings are not uncommon in Johannesburg or other metros, with eThekwini also battling to evict those illegally occupying squalid, publicly-owned properties that are earmarked for social housing or demolition.
The buildings are most often without domestic and/or fire water lines or electricity, and as a result, occupants bathe, defecate and do open fire cooking in rooms and dump refuse in open areas. They also connect electricity illegally, a known fire risk.
The buildings are also hideouts for criminals, who force the illegal occupants to pay “rent” for bed space, similar to a system used in hostels.
A former senior COJ fire office, speaking to the Mail & Guardian on condition anonymity, said that in illegal, overcrowded buildings, the “fire load” increased significantly. The fire load can be defined as anything that can burn, making the buildings a “serious hazard” to the illegal occupiers, and those in adjoining buildings.
At a press briefing shortly after Makhubele spoke, mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said the city was “making strides” with evicting illegal occupants.
“In the past, we may have contravened certain laws with evictions. As the current administration, we are taking a more prudent approach to evictions.”
The building had been earmarked for social housing, he said, and was on the radar of an inner-city rejuvenation committee.
“It’s unfortunate that [the evictions] were overtaken [by the fire],” said the mayor.
