INLSA
Vygieskraal informal settlement residents move past the fire that destroyed 70 homes and left 300 people homeless.
Police are awaiting a report from fire department investigators to determine the cause of the fire that destroyed 70 shacks and left at least 300 people homeless in an Athlone informal settlement. No fatalities were reported.
Speculation was rife among residents as to where the fire had started as conflicting stories spread through the Vygieskraal informal settlement yesterday.
Residents hurriedly moved their belongings to the perimeter of the settlement – piles of mattresses, blankets, clothing, cupboards and kitchen utensils were stacked up near the Vygieskraal canal which runs along the settlement.
Some residents blamed an unidentified man for recklessly smoking drugs, falling asleep and setting the settlement alight.
“We also hear that a woman who had made a pot of food while under the influence set her shack alight when the pot fell,” said a police officer at the scene.
“But it’s all speculation and we still need to confirm,” he said.
Other residents said that the fire had started somewhere near the centre of the settlement, while others said it started “at the back” of the settlement closer to the avenues.
Resident Henna Goliath said that the fire had “definitely started at the back”.
Goliath and her two young grandchildren were visiting her friend “at the back of the settlement,” when the fire started.
She hurried home to save her belongings and watched as an electric pole which had caught alight fell on her home.
“Everything is gone, everything. My fridge, my clothes my ID and clinic cards – it’s all gone,” she said.
When the Cape Argus arrived at the scene, Goliath was shouting at a man whom some residents were beating for allegedly stealing some of the residents’ possessions amidst the commotion.
Another man was accused of stealing electricity cables.
“I don’t know why they are stealing, they can see people are heartbroken and they still steal,” she said.
Last night, provincial police spokesman November Filander, confirmed that police were waiting for fire investigators’ reports before they would decide on whether to open a case docket of arson or an inquest docket.
Late yesterday he said that no people were reported to be missing and that firefighters were combing the area.
Cape Town Fire Service’s Theo Layne said they were dispatched to Athlone at about 5.19pm and contained the fire soon after 7pm yesterday.
Eight fire engines, four water tankers and about 52 personnel were dispatched.
“It was very difficult at first to access the area, but we got our vehicles through the shacks,” he said.
EMS spokeswoman Keri Davids said two men were treated at the scene. The first man appeared to have been assaulted, said Davids. He was treated in the ambulance and then left.
A second man, who escaped a burning shack, had abrasions to his arms and hands. Once treated, he refused to be taken to hospital, said Davids.
Last night, displaced residents stayed with family and friends.
The city’s housing department was expected to provide them with starter kits to rebuild their shacks this morning, while disaster management would provide food and blankets to those affected, said the city’s disaster management spokeswoman, Charlotte Powell.
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