Peter Luhanga
Eighty residents were left homeless when a shack fire destroyed 20 shacks in Zone 8 informal settlement in Witsand, Atlantis, yesterday (subs: on Sunday 22 September).
Thankfully, there were no injuries or fatalities in the blaze that erupted at 3:30pm.
Zimkhita Meme, 33, a mother of three—ages three, ten, and thirteen—lives with her children and boyfriend in a three-room shack. She says she heard the chilling screams of children shouting that shacks near her home were ablaze while she was lounging with friends in the shade, trying to escape the sweltering sun. In a panic, she dashed back to her shack, making two frantic trips to grab what she could—two bags of clothes and three blankets. But by the time she got back, the flames were greedily licking the zinc walls, leaving her unable to save anything else.
She says she lost most of her belongings in the fierce fire.
“When I tried for the third time, I was unable to get in, the fire was too strong. I don’t know where to start to rebuild, the whole three room shack its down. She said they needed to find a place to sleep and were searching for relatives to help them.
She says the Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services responded promptly to the call for help, but they faced a tough challenge getting into the informal settlement due to the lack of access roads. She says it took time to stretch hoses to reach the blaze, and had there been proper roads, they could have snuffed out the fire much more quickly.
Using buckets, residents had desperately tried to draw water from the communal taps, but with no water pressure, they eventually gave up the fight.
Another fire victim, Vumile Mdaka, 31, was alerted by his neighbours and warned to rush home when the inferno broke out. When he arrived, he saw shacks engulfed in flames just metres from his own. He managed to grab his microwave, fridge, wardrobe, and a few clothes, but was too late to save his TV.
“I was retrenched in November last year, and I’ve been looking for jobs ever since with no luck. I don’t know how I’ll rebuild my shack. For now, I’ll stay with my brother in Dunoon while I figure out how to get back on my feet,” said Mdaka.
The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse confirmed a “fire incident” involving shacks in the Zone 8 informal settlement in Witsands, near the taxi rank on Sunday afternoon.
“Our initial estimate indicates about 20 structures have been affected, with approximately 80 people displaced,” stated Carelse. No injuries were reported.