A deathly pall of smoke hung in the air at the Foreman Road informal settlement in Durban on Monday‚ following a devastating fire that claimed the life of a two-year-old baby and robbed about 800 families of their homes‚ hopes and dreams.
On Monday‚ hundreds of people rummaged through ash and rubble in search of material to help them rebuild their homes‚ after the fire swept through the settlement in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Shielding her two-month-old boy from the smoke was unemployed mother Siphokazi Mvumbi.
“When the fire started‚ I took my baby and ran out‚” she told reporters. “I tried to go back to save our things‚ but it was too late.”
Now Mvumbi has to start from scratch “We have lost everything: the baby’s birth certificate‚ SASSA card‚ my ID document – I don’t know what do.” Mvumbi says she has been living in the informal settlement since 2009‚ and hopes the government will do something about their living situation.
Many of the residents said that after the fire‚ they had nowhere to go.
Fire victim Dumisani Ngcolo said: “I did not sleep – there was nowhere to sleep. I just sat where my house used to be‚ waiting for the sun to rise‚ so I can go buy material to rebuild." Ngcolo says he was awoken by the shattering screams of his neighbors “It was around 1:30 am‚ when I heard people screaming and crying‚ shouting ‘Fire! Fire!’”
He says he is grateful for one thing: “I am just glad that I live alone‚ and my two children weren’t there.”
This isn’t the first time tragedy has struck in this community. Six months ago‚ two-week-old baby Jayden Khoza died after a police used teargas to disperse residents who were protesting for electricity at the informal settlement.
Shack-dweller movement Abahlali baseMjondolo said that they believed this tragic fire could have been avoided. “If free and safe electricity had been provided‚ this fire – caused by a candle – would not have happened."
South African Police Service spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said police were still investigating the cause of the fire.
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