It was not all joy on Wednesday for survivors of the Usindiso building fire when they were moved from a shelter to newly erected shacks in Denver, south of Johannesburg.
What was meant to be a joyous occasion turned out to be a chaotic scene as residents were seemingly ambushed into the move, with some losing belongings during the hurried move.
But, for one woman, the move was even more painful as she not only lost some of her belongings, but her three-year-old daughter as well. She is Sibongile Majwababa, 33, a former tenant of the condemned Usindiso building in which 77 people died when it caught on fire in August.
Majwababa, who was moved from a shelter in Bezuidenhout Valley, eastern Joburg, to a cluster of new shacks erected in Denver is in despair after losing one of her children.
She left the recreational centre in Bezuidenhout Valley, east of Johannesburg, to buy cold drinks and bread for her two children, aged five and three.
She returned to find that police, immigration officers from Home Affairs, crime prevention wardens and Johannesburg metro police had raided the centre and were not allowing anyone in or out.
“They had already taken some of my belongings to the truck. I told them that not everything was there, but they said the rest would be thrown away. I asked them where my two children were and my five-year-old boy shouted from inside the bus.
“I rushed to the bus into which other people had already been loaded thinking both children were inside. But when I got in, it was only Issa [the five-year-old] who was there. I told everyone I could not see my daughter and jumped out of the bus as it was moving, but was forced back in,” Majwababa said.
None of the passengers knew where her daughter Zainab was.
To make matters worse, Majwababa's partner and father of her children, Mudi Mohhammed, 34, was taken away by immigration officers during the relocation.
Majwababa had no-one to help her look for her daughter. She has no cellphone or any other relative at the shelter.
After arriving at Denver, an industrial area where shacks have been erected for the destitute families, Majwababa looked confused. While other people were moving their belongings into the shacks which had been allocated to them, she was walking around not knowing what to do.
“I want my child. Even if they can take the shack, I don't care. I want my child,” she said.
On August 31, a fire ravaged the Usindiso building in Marshalltown, in the inner city, killing 77 people. Survivors were placed in different shelter across the city.
The tragedy attracted international media as one of the worst disasters to hit Johannesburg. Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi established a commission of inquiry to investigate the cause of the fire and reasons why hijacked buildings proliferate in Johannesburg.
At Denver, shacks have been erected on a concrete surface. There is no electricity and the new residents use chemical toilets. The shacks are minute, measuring 3m by 3m.
The doors of each shack can be locked only from outside. There is a perimeter wall but no gate. Guards man the entrance.
Munira Mokgoko, who will share her shack with her three children aged six months, eight and 10, said life will be difficult.
“We don't have stoves or anything which we can use to prepare food for children ... How are we going to survive?” Mokgoko said.
The City of Johannesburg did not immediately respond to questions posed by TimesLIVE Premium about the move.
