Khampepe inspects cardboard shacks in Joburg multistorey flats to avoid another Usindiso

Broken windows and decaying corrugated iron sheets characterise a derelict block of flats in downtown Johannesburg and tell a terrifying tale of neglect over many decades.

At the main entrance, an overpowering stench caused by water leaking from the first floor and uncollected refuse spilling from containers welcome visitors. Cardboard is used to partition rooms inside, constituting a potential fire hazard. 

This is Rosano Modes flats in Davies Street, Doornfontein, not too far away from the site of an unprecedented inferno that killed 76 people at the Usindiso building in August 2023. Former Constitutional Court justice Sisi Khampepe, who chaired the commission of inquiry into the deaths at Usindiso, visited Rosano Modes with a team of inspectors and Joburg metro police officials as part of a programme to ensure the country avoids a repeat of the horror. 

But of the five buildings visited on Wednesday, none was compliant with municipal bylaws. Rosano Modes was the worst. Like Usindiso, it is made of bricks and mortar on the outside, but is a cardboard-based shack land prone to fire inside. Residents say the plumbing network has collapsed, which makes ablution facilities dysfunctional. Illegal electricity connections are commonplace.

Wednesday saw the first of a five-day inspection drive as part of investigations into abandoned or hijacked buildings. The investigations are looking at the living conditions of residents in hijacked or abandoned buildings.

One of the inspectors, who didn't want to be named as she is not authorised to speak to the media, said the investigation is aimed at getting a better understanding of living conditions in the inner city. 

The inspector said after the investigations, the commissioner will compile a report and submit it to the Gauteng premier. 

“Remember there are a lot of cases. It is a whole other world that we are investigating to see how best we can deal with this problem and help the city. We want to prevent another Usindiso, so we need to understand what is happening in the buildings across the city.

“Usindiso was exactly like that, there are no fire escapes, there are no fire hydrants. There is no fire security in place,” said the inspector.

One of the buildings that the commission visited with members of the socioeconomic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) only has one tap at the main entrance.

One of the residents who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium said he had been staying in the building since 2002.

The man, from Zimbabwe, said when he arrived at the building, it was allegedly owned by a man whose security guards collected the rent. He said after some time, the guards stopped collecting rent and residents haven't been paying rent since. 

"The issues that we are worried about are that we don’t have toilets, we don’t have sewage.

“It [the flat] has become our home, we are pleading that they fix our toilets or find us temporary accommodation and renovate these apartments and we will come back,” he said. 

A resident from Free State, who only gave his first name, Godfrey, for fear of victimisation by other residents, said the apartment he was staying in didn't have electricity but had water.

He said they shared one toilet. He said he has stayed in the area since 2004 when he worked as a security guard. But since 2017, he has been unemployed and doesn't pay rent.

“I used to stay with my girlfriend, but now I stay alone. The conditions are fine, especially that there is a toilet for us and it is clean.”