Joburg CBD fire: CoJ to determine whether displaced victims are in SA legally
After the deadly blaze, City of Joburg officials ascertained that most of the survivors of the blaze are from Lesotho.
The building on Commissioner Street went up in flames in the early hours of 21 January 2024, leaving two people dead and at least four others injured. Picture: Supplied.
JOHANNESBURG - The City of Johannesburg says victims of the latest building fire in the CBD will be moved to Denver - where hundreds of destitute families affected by another deadly blaze last year are being accommodated.
The fire that killed two people was sparked on a two-story hijacked building located on the corner of Commissioner Street and Nugget Street over the weekend.
A woman accused of starting the blaze after a domestic feud with her lover has been arrested and charged with murder.
Emergency services is responding to a fire at a residential building in the Johannesburg CBD this morning. Four people have been transported to hospital for further medical care. @motsoere_gloria pic.twitter.com/HpkWDWST6s
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) January 21, 2024
With resources stretched thin, the City of Johannesburg says residents who’ve refused to stay at a community hall will have to settle for makeshift accommodation on a sports field in Denver.
City’s spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said officials would be meeting with the Lesotho consulate on Monday to determine the legality of some of the survivors. This is after it turned out that most of them are from that country.
"We are meeting this morning [Monday] to establish who is in the country legally as we are under no obligation to accommodate [people]," said Modingoane.
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Modingoane added that by the end of the week, the victims will be moved to the notorious Denver shelter where zinc shacks were erected after the deadly Marshalltown fire that claimed 77 lives last year.
He said that by Friday, they will be moved to Denver.
The shoddy housing is also sheltering families whose homes were destroyed during the Booysens informal settlement inferno over two years ago.