BRIDGETOWN residents are demanding answers after two alleged drug addicts died in a blaze in a derelict building owned by the Western Cape Association of and for persons with Disabilities (APD).
Sadu Davids of the Bridgetown Neighbourhood Watch and Community Development Forum says despite years of warnings of the goings-on at the property in Loerie Road, their worst fears came true when the charred remains of two people were found in the building.
Residents gathered at the scene on Wednesday morning as forensic teams removed the bodies following a blaze the previous evening.
Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse says they received the call for help at 10pm on Tuesday.
He reports: “Crews from Epping, Ottery, Mitchells Plain and Roeland Street were on scene. At 11.20pm firefighters found the bodies of two persons inside the building. They were burnt beyond recognition.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg says Athlone police registered an inquest for investigation after the bodies of a unknown man and woman were found in the building.
He adds: “Police responded to a building that is on fire in Loerie Road, Bridgetown, and after fire and rescue services extinguished the fire, the bodies were discovered.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.”
Davids says the property formally housed the Unity Sports Club, but was later taken over by APD.
Davids explains: “The building has been giving the community of Bridgetown problems for years now.
“The druggies moved in and at one stage they were merting from the property.
“Each time we had to intervene and most recently we found a woman with a young little boy living in the property.
“After all these years what we warned would happen has now happened and they don’t take responsibility while the property has become a haven for criminals and a security threat to the community.”
Davids says the community is gatvol and have not only reported the gebeure to the councillor and City of Cape Town, they have repeatedly asked that the facility be handed over for community projects.
APD chief executive Wilfred Diedricks confirms they own the building and are aware of the fire. He explains as a non-profit organisation they are unable to raise the funds to protect the building.
Diedricks says: “We are a non-profit organisation, promoting the interests of people with disabilities, who raise funds from the public.
“Thus far, we have not yet managed to accumulate enough funds to protect that building and put it to better use.
“We are now in the process of partnering with a private business to assist us to protect our assets and help us to raise funds for the general development of the property.”
Diedricks says they plan to bolster the complex so they could have enough facilities and resources to assist the ever-increasing numbers of vulnerable people who require assistance.