Danish gov to the rescue - Joe Slovo settlement to go solar

Cape Town - More than 2600 new homes in Joe Slovo settlement in Cape Town will be fitted with solar-powered geysers, the human settlements department announced on Thursday.

The multi-million rand project, which would be funded by the Danish government, was launched by Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale.

“(The households) will receive solar-powered geysers as part of government’s programme to create better living conditions for residents of the former Joe Slovo informal settlement,” the department said in a statement.

“The units will be fitted with 2639 solar geysers at a cost of R18 million.”

It said the houses had been specifically designed to accommodate the water-heating equipment. - Sapa

Zuma's Nkandla Home Gets More Money Than All Gap-Market Housing Combined

Reports that the Department of Human Settlements' Gap Market Housing Scheme has only assisted 274 households is an injustice to the millions of South Africans who are its intended beneficiaries.

I will write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Beauty Dambuza, and request that Minister Tokyo Sexwale be summoned to Parliament to account for his Department and ensure that the programme reaches as many South Africans as possible.

In his 2012 State of the Nation Address, President Zuma said that a R1 billion guarantee fund would be available for people in the gap market, i.e. those earning between R3 500 and R15 000, to obtain credit to buy houses.

However, it's been reported that only 112 households benefitted from the scheme during the 2010/2011 financial year and 162 in 2011/2012. Furthermore, only 57 of the 835 applications during the 2012/2013 year were successful.

Between April and December last year, the Department of Human Settlements had committed a paltry R126 million budget to the programme but only R70 million has been used to date.

This is significantly less than the R206 million which is being spent on the upgrade of President Zuma's private residence in Nkandla. It represents a serious lack of priority by government on alleviating poverty and helping those in desperate need of state assistance, and inadvertently sends the message to South Africans that one man is more important than the millions of South Africans who lack decent housing.

It is high time the Department got its priorities right. The DA will do everything possible to ensure that this happens.

Stevens Mokgalapa, DA Spokesperson on Human Settlements - allAfrica

Unclear which dept is probing Nkandla

It still remains unclear which state department is holding up the investigation into the Nkandlagate scandal but Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's office said on Tuesday it plans to release a preliminary report at the end of this month.

The Public Protector office confirmed over the weekend that Madonsela was still awaiting crucial documents from government before she wraps up her investigation into the Presidential homestead.

Government has spent more than R200 million on consultants and security upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead, using taxpayer's money.

The Public Protector is remaining mum on which department has been keeping crucial documents from investigators and also won't say which documents are still outstanding.

Both the Presidency and the Department of Public Works have been fingered as the culprits by various media houses.

The Presidency has refused to comment on these allegations.

According to the Public Protector office’s Kgalalelo Masibi the report is expected to be released soon.

“The investigation is at an advanced stage the Public Protector hopes to release a provisional report by the end of April this year.”

Meanwhile the Justice Department's Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has failed to start their own investigation into the matter.

- Eyewitness News

Mandela’s Company Directors Fight Daughters’ Bid to Oust Them

South African Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale and lawyers George Bizos and Bally Chuene opposed an application to remove them as directors from two companies started by Nelson Mandela.

Makaziwe Mandela and Zenani Dlamini, the daughters of South Africa’s first black president, filed papers with the High Court in Johannesburg on April 9 to have the three men removed, their law firm Norton Rose said in an e-mailed statement today.

“We are instructed to record our clients’ complete rejection of the scurrilous allegations made by the applicants in their papers,” Norton Rose said. Sexwale, Chuene and Bizos, an anti-apartheid lawyer who represented Mandela at his 1964 trial for sabotage and conspiracy, were “were identified by Mr Mandela and were in due course lawfully appointed,” it said.

Mandela’s daughters want the men removed as directors from Harmonieux Investment Holdings and Magnifique Investment Holdings, which have generated about 15 million rand ($1.7 million) in revenue from the rights to Mandela’s handprints, the Johannesburg-based Star newspaper reported today.

Mandela, 94, is recovering from a lung infection at his Johannesburg home after spending 10 days in a hospital in the capital, Pretoria.

- Bloomberg

Stadium’s running costs a mystery

Cape Town - The real cost of running Cape Town Stadium appears to be a mystery as financial reports purport that the venue, built for the 2010 World Cup, has recorded a loss of nearly R300-million over a period of three years.

But city officials were quick to point out on Sunday that the figures in the report - signed by both executive director for events in the city Anton Groenewald and the mayoral committee member for the portfolio responsible, Grant Pascoe - may be incorrect.

According to councillor Yagyah Adams, who serves on the city’s finance portfolio committee, the stadium - which cost over R4-billion to build - had losses of more than the R44.6-million a year the city initially reported.

Using figures from a report released at a committee meeting held last Friday, Adams calculated that the operating cost of the stadium from the end of 2009 until June 2013 was projected to be more than R300-million. In contrast, the income generated from the end of 2009 to February 2013 was a mere R35-million.

Chairperson of the Green Point Ratepayers and Residents Association, Bob Goebel, said that if the figures were correct, it was “frightening”. He added that he could not comment without confirming the in- formation and consulting other members of the association.

Deputy mayor Ian Nielson’s office has responded by saying the figures were incorrect and should have been withdrawn.

When questioned on what the correct figures were, the office was unable to respond. It was also unable to explain why the incorrect figures were allowed to circulate and why they had not yet been formally withdrawn.

Kevin Jacoby, chief financial officer for the City of Cape Town, said the financial results for the various financial years were presented in a manner that was unclear.

“It is not possible to determine the true operating results from the tables presented. In order to prevent any confusion... I will review the report and present (it) at the next finance portfolio committee (meeting).”

He added he could not confirm the released calculated operating costs.

“The stadium belongs to all the residents of Cape Town. As such we will continue to explore all avenues in order to make it benefit as many people as possible,” he said.

Mayoral committee member for tourism, events and marketing Grant Pascoe, who also signed off the report, was unable to comment at the time of going to print.

According to the director of the 2010 operations at the stadium, Lesley de Reuck, the report was “pulled back in order to make sure all the numbers were correct”.

However, Adams said he was alarmed by the amount of money wasted and how the meeting dealt with the flawed figures.

According to Adams, no formal withdrawal was made to him.

“We have not been told that the figures are incorrect. They said something may be wrong with them, but no resolution or further action was taken.”

The councillor believes that none of the relevant officials read the report before the meeting, as there were no objections until questions based on the figures in the report emerged.

“Based on the fact that the figures were described by the deputy mayor as inaccurate, what evidence is available to suggest that the figures bantered about in the past are correct?”

According to Adams, a senior finance manager publicly stated in the committee meeting that it was “impossible to unscramble an egg”, insinuating that it was impossible to determine what the stadium’s true cost.

Adams, who said he had been requesting the financial report for over a year, expressed concern about how the figures could be so grossly incorrect.

“What is apparent from this and the time that it took to compile the report is that only a few people actually know the true cost of the stadium expenditure,” he said.

* Concerts bring in loot for stadium

On the entertainment side, Cape Town Stadium has brought in a substantial amount of income by hosting many sold-out music events.

Massive sales were recorded for the Lady Gaga, U2, Linkin Park and Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts.

In addition, next month’s Justin Bieber concert is already sold out.

The stadium also hosted the Kings of Leon, Coldplay and Eagles concerts.

In 2011, the stadium showcased Premier Soccer League matches involving Ajax Cape Town, which drew 107 013 spectators over the season.

Bafana Bafana, has played to two full-house matches at the stadium this year, including a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

Other stadium income generators include film shoots and tours.

- Cape Argus

Protector needs more time for Nkandla investigation

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's office has indicated that the investigation into President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead will take longer to conclude than expected, according to a report on Monday.

The deadline was the end of March, but Oupa Segalwe, spokesman for the Public Protector, said on Sunday night that they were still waiting for the public works department to provide crucial documents, Beeld reported.

"We also underestimated the number of documents that we have to examine. We have to be comprehensive to complete our mandate properly."

According to Segalwe, negotiations are underway between the Public Protector and the department of public works to get the required documents.

Thulas Nxesi, minister of public works, said earlier that the government had spent R206 million on security upgrades and consultants at Zuma's private Nkandla home.

- Timeslive

Dodgy procurement costs R25bn every year

Tender corruption is adding up - ultimately affecting the poor.

South Africa loses about R25-billion each year to corruption in government procurement – think textbooks not arriving on time at schools, shoddily built RDP houses and tender-rigging. But the real victims are the poor and marginalised, who depend on these procured goods and services.

In 2011, Willie Homeyr, then head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) told Parliament that between R25-billion and R30-billion of the government’s procurement budget was lost to corruption; according to civil society activist Hennie van Vuuren, this is about 20% of the total procurement budget.

Corruption Watch has received 298 reports relating to corruption in public procurement and supply chain management and the question is whether these companies, awarded the tenders illegally, are able to provide the services tendered for? Take the Mvula Trust story and the Limpopo textbook saga – issues of procurement are clearly of concern. The harsh reality is that only a few people profit in these instances, as a result of corruption, and the majority, the intended beneficiaries, are the losers.

Education compromised

The lack of textbooks in Limpopo schools dominated the headlines in 2012, with many schools not receiving their education support material until well into the second-half of the academic year. The SIU report on the issue highlights irregularities and wasteful expenditure. The report, which was leaked to the Mail & Guardian, found that a R680-million contract was awarded to the politically connected EduSolutions for textbooks and educational material.

And the victims were again the disadvantaged – the pupils in the Limpopo schools. There are 5 297 schools in Limpopo and about 1.7 million students. Most of them were affected by the failure of the Department of Basic Education to deliver learning material. Section 27 has reported that in a group of 25 schools, 70% of grade 10 pupils failed the 2012 mid-year exams.

Trust used as front to get tender

Another case of the few benefiting on the backs of the majority is the Mvula Trust Community Work Programme (CWP). In January, a four-month investigation into the Mvula Trust by CW found tender irregularities worth R30-million. The Mvula Trust was used as a front for a company owned by an Mvula trustee. The CWP focuses on the creation of jobs for the poor – an initiative the trust has called “a South African success story”.

It has employed 30 000 citizens, and the goal is 54 000 people as part of the project. However, in March, dozens of CWP employees arrived at the organisation’s Braamfontein offices demanding their wages. They said they had not been paid for three to four months and could no longer afford to buy food, pay rent or take care of their children’s welfare.

On Thursday, about 500 CWP employees gathered at Joubert Park in Johannesburg to express their anger again about late payments and low salaries – they earn less than R600 a month. A co-ordinator from the CWP spoke about the frustration of not receiving adequate equipment to complete the jobs designed by the programme.

RDP waiting game

RDP housing is yet another example of how the marginalised have to bear the brunt of corruption. People around the country are cheated because of shoddy workmanship and graft in the construction of RDP houses. Last week, CW published a story about Naomi Genu, who applied for an RDP house in 2005. After six years she was notified that she would receive a home. Today Genu is still without her house.

This is the reality for many South Africans, who have been waiting for a promised house since 1994. A research report by the Housing Development Agency stated that 1 779 426 people lived in informal settlements; according to the General Household Survey of 2009, 458 00, or 38%, of people living in shacks had at least one member on the housing waiting list.

In her presentation to the portfolio committee on human settlements in February, public protector Thuli Madonsela outlined key observations on procurement corruption in the RDP housing sector. She noted that there had been an alleged irregular award of tenders, vetting of service providers, overbilling, false billing, and a lack of standardisation of houses.

In the reports relating to housing received by CW, corrupt public officials are alleged to have awarded tenders to companies to which they have some form of personal connection, or that the awarding of tenders may involve bribes being paid to officials by private commercial companies.

In 2012, the Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, said his department spent R400-million of the RDP housing budget to mend substandard houses built since 2002. He noted that 7 000 new houses could have been built with that money.

It was reported in 2011 that the SIU was investigating housing graft of R2-billion and that the unit was targeting five housing syndicates across the country. Sexwale said he was determined to root out “the incompetent shovel, wheelbarrow and bakkie brigade who line up for tenders only to cheat the poorest of the poor”.

The month of April signifies freedom and democracy for South Africa. In the past 19 years the country has made important and successful leaps, but looking back, one has to ask how it is possible that people are still living without adequate housing, education and jobs. It is the people who have nothing who stand to lose everything that should rightfully be theirs.

This article first appeared on Corruption Watch.

Kayamandi fire victims rebuild their lives

Cape Town - Residents have started rebuilding their lives after a devastating fire swept through a Stellenbosch informal settlement last month.

The blaze, in Kayamandi, Zone O, killed one person and left thousands homeless. It started in the early hours of March 14. Fanned by strong winds it spread through the tightly packed shacks.

The aftermath left 4 500 people homeless and destroyed 1 357 shacks, said Vernon Bowers, spokesman for the Stellenbosch municipality.

He said the fire was believed to have started when a paraffin stove was left unattended. The municipality had provided temporary shelter for residents in two community halls.

Bowers said residents had moved back to the informal settlement to start rebuilding their homes over the weekend.

“We have spent the past weeks cleaning and preparing the area. We are now working on the electrical network and ablution facilities, which will cost millions to repair,” he said.

“It’s an ongoing process. We’re not only working on getting things back to normal, we want to improve their lives and living conditions.”

When the Cape Argus visited the informal settlement on Wednesday, residents were hard at work. Most of them were using a mixture of building materials they salvaged from the fire and kits they received from the municipality to set up home again. The building kits include nails, corrugated sheets and wooden poles.

Resident Gents Silekala, 55, who started building his two-roomed shack on Sunday, said if it wasn’t for the help of local businesses, which donated some of the building materials, he would have had to build a smaller shack.

“It’s a struggle for us; we lost everything in the fire. The important thing right now is finishing the shack.”

Silekala has lived in the area for 10 years. “Since I’ve lived here we have had two fires. This was the bigger of the two. It was chaos that night. We tried to save what we could but the way the fire quickly spread from the bottom to the top… we couldn’t hang around in that heat,” said Silekala.

Around the corner from Silekala’s shack, Mwabisa Kala, 25, was putting the finishing touches to her home. Piles of clothing, pots and pans were littered around the two-roomed shack. Kaka was laying a mat on a muddy floor. She said water seeped through the floor when it rained.

- Cape Argus

One dead in Cape fires

Cape Town - A man died and others were left homeless in two Cape Town fires, a city official said on Wednesday.

A fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning killed Nkosibonile Tshangale in Philippi, disaster risk centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

He said Tshangale, in his early thirties, was apparently sleeping when the fire broke out at the School Yard informal settlement.

Neighbours tried to extinguish the flames of his shack but were unsuccessful. The police were investigating.

A second fire the same morning destroyed two shacks and damaged a house in Wallacedene.

“It is suspected that the fire was caused as a result of a lighted candle that overturned and ignited bedding in the shack,” Solomons-Johannes said. - Sapa

Government Is Gambling With Lives of Shack Dwellers

The increased number of deaths due to shack fires in the various Western Cape informal settlements is a clear indication that both the National and Western Cape governments are gambling with people's lives.

IFP Spokesperson on Human Settlements, Mr Petros Sithole MP said, "After 18 years of democracy, people are still living in filth and degradation. The Western Cape Government and the ANC led government must clarify whether people who are staying in shacks are being punished because they voted for the ANC nationally or whether national government is withholding resources because people voted for the DA in the Western Cape?"

"With winter fast approaching many people will be placing not only their own lives, but also the lives of their families and other residents of informal settlements at risk by lighting shack fires just to keep warm. This is unacceptable, especially when viewed in the light of the Department of Human Settlements having underspent on its allocated budget, while people are in dire need of housing," said Sithole.

- allAfrica

Family killed as home burns

Cape Town - A couple and their toddler burnt to death when their locked wendy house caught alight in Wesbank near Delft.

Mother Loretta Moos, 32, her two-year-old daughter, Haylee-Anne Moos, and boyfriend, Shaun Buys, 33, were killed in a fire that enveloped the wooden structure in Parsons Crescent late on Easter Sunday. The fire spread to two adjacent brick houses.

Neighbours and relatives had conflicting views about where and how the fire had started. Some said coals from an earlier potjiekos braai caused the fire while others speculated that it was an overturned candle.

The city’s Disaster Risk Management spokesman, Wilfred Solomons Johannes, said the cause of the fire had not been determined.

Police are investigating and have opened an inquest docket. Moos has two other children who live with their father in Mossel Bay. Moos’s mother, Anne Johnson, who also lives in Wesbank, was overcome with emotion on Monday.

She said her daughter usually locked the door with a chain and a lock on the inside. She believes a burning candle fell over in the wendy house, causing the fire. Her father, David Johnson, said: “We feel heartsore, but we have to accept it.”

Cathleen Coetzee, who owns the land on which the wendy house was situated, said that the family had been living there for about a month.

Coetzee’s brick house was also burnt and she has lost all her possessions. She said she woke around 9.40pm to find flames had spread across her house in strong winds.

On Monday, neighbours gathered to look at the remains.

Gilbert Thabani, who owned the wendy house, said he was woken by a knock on the door. He saw the flames coming through his room window.

Thabani and Coetzee did not know the family was inside and said they did not hear any screams.

“Some people came with buckets and some with (hose) pipes. But what shocked us was when the fire brigade came and then told us they were inside,” Thabani said.

Firefighters were kept busy by several shack fires this weekend:

* On Saturday, 120 people were left homeless when 31 shacks caught fire in Lerotholi Avenue in Langa around 11.45pm. No injuries were reported.

* On Monday morning, 27 people were displaced in Gugulethu when a fire gutted 12 shacks. Seven children were among those who lost possessions. The fire broke out behind Joburg Stores off Lansdowne Road. No injuries were recorded and the cause of the fire is being investigated.

* Firefighters also attended to fires in Belhar, Philippi and Gugulethu.

* About 1am on Sunday, a fire broke out in a shack in Freedom Park informal settlement. Police have opened an inquest docket for investigation after it was alleged that the resident’s fiancée had started the fire.

* Around 2.50pm on Sunday, firefighters responded to a fire at the Marcus Garvey informal settlement. Two shacks were burnt, leaving three people homeless. Two neighbouring houses were affected by the fire, suspected to have been caused by sparks from a short circuit in electrical wiring.

* A fire destroyed three wood-and-iron structures, leaving three people homeless, in Andrew Matshikwe Street in Gugulethu at 10.07pm on Sunday.

* At 10.23pm, firefighters found three shacks on fire in Barcelona informal settlement, where 11 people were displaced, reportedly after a lit candle fell over, setting bedding alight.

- Cape Argus

Councillor expelled for ‘selling RDP houses’

Cape Town - A Cape Town councillor who allegedly sold RDP houses has been found guilty of breaching the councillors’ code of conduct and will be expelled from the council.

ANC ward 35 councillor Thobile Gqola was found guilty by a disciplinary committee of “compromising the integrity of a councillor” and not acting in the best interest of the public after he allegedly sold RDP houses.

The disciplinary committee also found DA councillor Irma Jackson guilty of “bringing a councillor’s name into disrepute”, fined her R6 000 and issued a warning.

Last week, the city council agreed after a heated debate between ANC and DA councillors to expel Gqola.

Last year, six cases of theft were opened against Gqola by residents of New Crossroads and Khayelitsha after allegations of “housing corruption”.

The council found Gqola allegedly sold RDP houses for R7 000 in Philippi East Phase 5 housing project to people who were not on the housing list.

Anthea Serritslev, chairwoman of the disciplinary committee, said the outcome was fair.

“We had an unpleasant debate during council meeting. Councillor Gqola was found guilty for acting in his own interest.”

Jackson takes seniors on a trip to Durban annually, but last year over 40 elderly people who had paid R3 000 for the trip were unable to travel after her travel agent let her down.

Serritslev said Jackson had found herself at the airport with the elderly passengers, but they were unable to fly because of the travel agent’s failure.

“Later that week, some of the group managed to go to Durban on their own… she also paid their money back,” said Serritslev.

“Jackson pleaded guilty. What she did was not for personal gain.”

ANC spokesman and councillor Xolani Sotashe said the ANC was clear on councillors who breached the code of conduct.

“We support the removal of councillor Gqola from office; he should have proved without a doubt that he was not guilty.

“However, the DA is using the disciplinary committee to terrorise councillors from other parties.

“In the case of a DA councillor who used letters with the city’s letterheads to evict people, he only received a warning. Councillor Jackson, a DA councillor, is only getting a fine and a warning. DA councillors who commit the same breach should also be removed as councillors.”

Sotashe added that the ANC would approach the public protector to have the decision revisited.

- Cape Argus

Nkandla creditors hit by payment delay

The main contractor upgrading President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home has escaped liquidation, but has left a string of KwaZulu-Natal subcontractors with empty pockets.

Bonelena Construction, Enterprise and Projects, which had two major deals worth almost R100 million linked to the multimillion Nkandla upgrade, avoided liquidation in February after creditors were forced to accept a revised payment arrangement in an out-of-court settlement.

A total of 23 subcontractors, owed more than R5m, accepted the offer of 50 percent payment for their work.

Had these “concurrent creditors” not accepted, Bonelena would have been liquidated and they would have been paid nothing.

Bonelena, which is owned by Pietermaritzburg businesswoman Thandeka Nene, has until the middle of this month to effect payment. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) also gave Bonelena R10m for the repayment of creditors, despite already being owed R19.7m.

Subcontractors who spoke to The Mercury on condition of anonymity said Bonelena had not been paid by the Department of Public Works, hence its inability to pay them.

Some said they would still do business with Nene as she had always been a reliable client.

“We will now be taking more precautions when it comes to getting guarantees for payment from clients, like personal sureties…

“We have done a lot of business with Bonelena. Thandeka is a very nice lady who has kept in touch with us by e-mail and always paid,” said a Pietermaritzburg building materials supplier.

However, another subcontractor said although Bonelena’s financial struggle was due to the department’s not paying, he would not do business with the company again.

Some subcontractors have been hit harder than others, with a few admitting the loss of income from the contract had affected their business.

They said the liquidator’s report said Bonelena had failed to keep proper accounts, so the liquidator had been unable to establish its financial position.

Court documents revealed that Bonelena’s R8.2m worth of assets would only fetch R6.4m on forced sale.

Secured creditors such as Absa, Standard Bank, First National Bank, Wesbank, Sars and company employees would receive all or most of the R8.2m that was owed to them. The Industrial Development Corporation, which was owed R19.7m before Bonelena applied for liquidation, bailed the company out by granting it a further R10m to pay creditors. Of the initial amount, the IDC is a secured creditor for R11.5m, but will only receive 50 percent of R8.2m, the portion which falls under “concurrent creditor”.

IDC spokesman Mandla Mpangase did not reply to questions.

Nene could not be reached yesterday for comment. However, she said on previous occasions that the department owed her company R8m.

Public Works Ministry spokesman Sabelo Mani could not be reached for comment. He has in the past been quoted as saying he could not divulge information on Nkandla as it was a national key point.

- The Mercury

Three dead, 47 displaced in Cape fires

Cape Town - Three people were killed and 47 people were left homeless after several fires in Cape Town over the Easter weekend, the city's disaster risk management centre said on Monday.

Two adults and a two-year-old girl died when the wendy house they were living in caught fire on Sunday evening, spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined. Police have opened an inquest docket and were investigating.

The fire which started in the wendy house spread to the main house on the premises and two people were left homeless.

A total of 41 people were left homeless after three separate fires in Gugulethu in the early hours of Monday morning and Sunday night.

Twelve shacks were destroyed behind Joburg Stores off Lansdowne Road in Gugulethu just after midnight on Monday.

A total of 20 adults and seven children were left homeless.

“The blaze completely gutted the informal shacks resulting in the victims losing all their personal belongings,” Solomons-Johannes said.

“The fire victims will be assisted with food parcels, clothing, blankets, building material.”

The cause of the fire had not been established.

Fourteen people were left homeless in two separate fires in Gugulethu on Sunday night.

A fire destroyed three wood and iron structures at 33 Andrew Matshikwe Street leaving three people homeless, said Solomons-Johannes.

At the Barcelona informal settlement in Gugulethu three shacks were destroyed and 11 people displaced.

It was suspected that a candle fell over and set the bedding alight.

At 1am on Sunday a fire destroyed a woman's shack at the R1

Freedom Park informal settlement in Belhar.

An eyewitness alleged that the woman's fiancé set the shack alight and fled the scene.

The police had opened an inquest docket and were looking for the man, Solomons-Johannes said.

Three people were displaced in Marcus Garvey informal settlement in Philippi when a fire destroyed two shacks.

The occupants tried to extinguish the blaze with garden hoses.

It was suspected that the fire was caused by sparks from a short circuit in the electrical wiring.

“The City's disaster response teams will assist the fire victims with the supply of food parcels, blankets, baby packs, clothing and building material during this morning (Monday),” Solomons-Johannes said. 

- Sapa