100 HOMES DESTROYED

BARELY a month after residents of Phumlani Village had to rebuild their homes after a devastating fire, the community was struck by yet another blaze on Tuesday that destroyed more than 100 structures.

While the exact cause of the fire is unknown, City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC) spokesperson Sonica Lategan said that department officials have conducted an assessment in D-Section, Riemvasmaak Informal Settlement and Eagle Park.

Lategan reported: “The assessment concluded that 106 structures were destroyed, and 141 persons displaced – most of them single adults. “In terms of infrastructure, 11 toilets and taps were damaged, along with electrical cables.

“The Disaster Risk Management Centre will activate Sassa to provide relief beyond the immediate aftermath.”

Gift of the Givers were on the ground on Tuesday evening and the City also requested departments to come onto site including Solid Waste to clear the fire debris and Energy and Water and Sanitation to repair the damaged infrastructure.

Community worker Beryl Williams was at the settlement on Monday to provide the community with donated clothing and food with the help of Pick n Pay Constantia.

Her partner in crime retired Captain Keith Blake who provides the community with second-hand building material told the Daily Voice that when fires break out at shacks innie Kaap the homeless do not have insurance for houses to be repaired.

Blake said: “All kinds of organisations get involved with humanitarian relief, but no one restores the homes.”

Starter kits, once issued to residents to help rebuild after disasters, have not been provided since national funding for the programme was discontinued in December 2020 due to budget constraints.

Lategan, however, said: “The City’s Informal Settlements Management Branch was on site to register affected persons – they will approach the National Department of Human Settlements to assist with emergency housing kits.”

Community representative Faizel Smith, who had previously lost his home four times due to fire incidents, told the Daily Voice: “Kids are going hungry to school and they are writing exams with this devastation on their minds. I feel their pain.

“What’s more heartbreaking is that we never got any assistance from our government, the mayor and our councillor. How long should we suffer?

“Where are the houses we get promised each time it comes to voting and when voting is finished the promises are forgotten. They don’t feel our pain.”