The latest fire in the Joe Slovo informal settlement brought the number of shacks destroyed in greater Cape Town to about 8 000 in less than a year - in nearly 2 000 shack blazes.
Almost 28 000 people were left homeless. The frequent fires have cost the City of Cape Town and the province R13 million in emergency funding.
This does not include costs of firefighting. More than 100 people lost their lives last year in informal settlement fires in the greater Cape Town area.
The fire at Joe Slovo in Langa early yesterday destroyed about 800 shacks, leaving about 4 000 homeless. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
The blaze comes almost exactly a year after a huge blaze devastated Joe Slovo, razing 4 000 dwellings and leaving about 12 000 inhabitants homeless.
Most of these people are still waiting for homes in the nearby N2 Gateway.
Pogiso Molapo, the city’s acting director for human settlement services, said the total cost of fires in informal settlements in the greater Cape Town region for the year would exceed R13m.
It had been estimated that the cost of relief after a recent fire at Doornbach informal settlement amounted to R2.1m, he said.
This included the cost of starter kits, two meals per person a day, a blanket for every individual and a special social grant from the provincial administration.
The latest statistics, Molapo said, revealed that for the past seven years the number of fires in informal settlements had averaged more than 1 000 a year.
The dry conditions and strong winds at this time of the year helped fires spread rapidly, claim lives and cause serious damage to property.
“In the light of these startling figures of human misfortune and suffering, the City of Cape Town is to launch an awareness campaign to alert residents and visitors to the dangers of fires. One death due to a fire is one too many,” said fire and rescue services chief Piet Smith.
The campaign has already started, with staff of fire and rescue services helping disaster management distribute safety pamphlets at informal settlements. Fire engine crews have been going to these settlements to familiarise the crews with the areas and to educate people about fire safety.
The effort will include a targeted radio campaign, the distribution of calendars, stickers and other material with easily understandable safety tips about the use of fire.
“When our city is burning, it affects every resident as it drains our scarce financial resources,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, the R2.3 billion N2 Gateway project, which aims to replace the shacks sprawling along the N2, has completed hundreds of the more than 22 000 housing units planned in one of the sites.
The council has declined to reveal the exact number of completed units, saying that “this may tempt people to illegally occupy the buildings”.
Asked when the units would be occupied, officials said the area was still a construction site.
“There is still work to be done on most of the parts of the project. As soon as construction is complete, there will be consultation and agreement on the date of occupation.”
This ought to be before the end of June.
Questioned about the enforcement of three-metre fire breaks between shacks, Molapo said the city tried to enforce this, but “people sometimes build their shacks on these spaces, as we are not able to continually monitor all the spaces next to each house”.
The latest fire victims will be accommodated in nearby community halls until they can rebuild their shacks. They could not rebuild them on the previous site under Eskom power lines. Instead, the rehousing project will be moved to alternative land.
The registration and verification of the fire victims got under way yesterday and displaced people received starter kits to rebuild their homes.
They were also provided with food.
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Disaster management safety tips
Most blazes in our informal settlements are caused by candles or paraffin stoves falling over. All possible practical steps should be taken to prevent fires from occurring or spreading.
These types of fires can be easily prevented by cutting candles in half. It is less likely to fall over if it is shorter.
Another easy tip is to put a handful of dry sand in the base of candle holders to keep it stable.
In the case of paraffin stoves people should place these stoves on a bed of sand within a container such as an old tin drum. - Cape Argus
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