Some Joburg CBD fire survivors sleeping in street to protect belongings from thieves

“It was not all terrible living there,” say some residents of the derelict Johannesburg building which caught fire in the early hours on Thursday. 

Yasim Moosa, who managed to jump out of a window with his family to escape the blaze, said he, like many of his neighbours, chose to live in the building because it was affordable and close to work and offered a social life.

“With the little money we earn, we’re able to send money back home and take care of ourselves this side. We go to Mai Mai [traditional market in Jeppestown] and Maboneng [rejuvenated urban district with restaurants and arthouse culture] for fun if we have something extra.

“Sometimes it was fun inside the building. Though it was unsafe, it was not all terrible,” said Moosa.

He lived in the building for five years and is originally from Malawi.

John Babiwala, also from Malawi, said: “We had tuckshops inside where they would sell tea, chips, bread and amagwinya (fatcakes). Some of the women worked there.”

Babiwala said he slept outside the building with several other former occupants on Thursday night to keep their belongings safe.

“It was cold, but what can we do? The building was our home.”

Despite the government offering temporary accommodation at three community centres for those left homeless after the fire, Moosa said many of his neighbours slept outside the building.

“They didn’t want to go to a shelter and leave their stuff here. I was willing to sleep outside but someone came and offered me and my family a place to stay overnight. He said we will make a plan for today.

“It’s painful. The only thing we want now is to get our stuff because some rooms were not burnt.”

Moosa said the fire was allegedly started by a gas accident on the first floor.

“The electricity went off at around 6pm and was supposed to come back at 8pm. When it came back, it tripped immediately after.

“We thought it was going to come back around 10pm but it never did. People say someone was cooking around midnight and the fire started.”

He said he managed to get his one-year-old daughter out of the window after strapping her to his waist and asked his wife to jump out first.

“We didn’t have much but it’s better than life back in Malawi. There we had nothing.”

He pointed to a window where he came out, with curtains and blankets still hanging. His rent was R1,800, he said, but declined to divulge who he paid.

Babiwala, who also said he heard the cause of the fire was gas, said the way some people partitioned off their living quarters might have contributed to the speed of the fire spreading.

“I think the fire was worse because the people who shared used boxes to separate from each other, so it’s easy for them to burn.”

• The Gauteng health department has provided a hotline number to assist family members who want to find their loved ones who are either hospitalised or deceased. Toll-free number: 0800-203-886. Direct line: 011-355-3048/011-241-5707.

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