A fire in the Kosovo informal settlement in Philippi has left over 100 people homeless just days before Christmas.
City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said an emergency call was received at around 1.55am on Saturday and firefighters extinguished the fire by 6:15am.
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is undetermined, he added.
Community leader Bulelani Mlungisi says: “According to the resident, the cause of the fire was a fight between two guys. Later one guy torched the house of the other, that is how the fire started.”
The City’s Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said the fire destroyed 42 structures, affecting 122 people.
Powell says: “The Disaster Risk Management Centre [DRMC] has notified Sassa and the National Department of Human Settlements. In the interim, Gift of the Givers [GOTG] is providing humanitarian relief. The DRMC has also activated the City’s Informal Settlements Management and Solid Waste Departments to assist with clearing the fire site and the affected residents.”
GOTG Project Manager Ali Sablay said the fire was the fifth fire at an informal settlement in the Western Cape in the past five days which the organisation is responding to.
Sablay says: “Our teams are currently still assisting the fire victims of Chester Williams informal settlement in Paarl, Electricity informal settlement in Mfuleni, and Ezolweni and Sihlala informal settlements in Du Noon.
“We have brought in additional stocks from our warehouses in preparation for the fire season in the Western Cape.”
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za