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One
of the worst disasters in living memory in South Africa's
economic hub, the blaze broke out on Aug. 31 in a dilapidated
building crammed with mostly foreign migrants. Many of the
victims were burned beyond recognition.
Residents said at the time of the disaster that the building had
been taken over by criminal syndicates who charge fees to
occupants, exploiting them but also offering more affordable
housing to those who might otherwise be left homeless.
"When a building has been hijacked it becomes a fire time bomb,"
Acting Chief of Emergency Management Services for the City of
Johannesburg Rapulane Monageng told the inquiry.
He listed a litany of fire hazards identified so far: blocked
emergency escape routes, stair wells converted into makeshift
rooms and wood brought in from outside to partition rooms to
create makeshift wooden shacks on the ground floor, where some
200 people were crammed together, he said.
A lack of fire extinguishers and the diverting of water from
fire suppression equipment for domestic use were also evident.
Residents of such buildings rely on illegal electricity
connections, gas burners and - when the country's rolling power
blackouts hit - candles, all of which increase the risk of
fires.
Johannesburg is one of the world's most unequal cities with
widespread poverty, joblessness and a longstanding housing
crisis. It has about 15,000 homeless people, according to the
government of Gauteng, the province that includes the city.
Johannesburg city authorities had leased the gutted building to
a charity providing shelter for women in 2016. But the charity
ran out of money and stopped operating, residents said.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Tim Cocks and John
Stonestreet)
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