It took only 3 days to build over 180 shacks in gutted Usindiso building, inquiry told
Several residents who lived in the building, gutted by a deadly fire in 2023, confirmed that homes made of cardboard material were erected in the five-story property.
Emergency workers at the scene of the deadly Joburg CBD fire that claimed over 70 lives on 31 August 2023. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - A witness in the commission of inquiry into the Marshalltown fire said it only took three days to build more than 180 shacks in the gutted Usindiso building.
Several residents confirmed to the inquiry's chairperson, Justice Sisi Khampepe, that homes made of cardboard material were erected in the five-storey property.
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The hijacked building was gutted by a fire that killed 76 people in August.
Several Marshalltown fire victims believe the blaze rapidly spread because of the highly flammable cardboard material used to erect the shacks in the building.
On Tuesday, the inquiry learned that each floor had at least 20 shacks, while the ground floor had been turned into a shantytown.
A witness, who lived in the Usindiso building, told the commission that he tried fighting the construction of the shacks, but he was unsuccessful.
“We thought the housing, home affairs, and health departments would intervene but that obviously didn't happen. So, we went back to our shacks.”
The inquiry is back on Wednesday morning and more victims are expected to take the witness stand.