CoJ fails to abide by court order directing it to improve Marshalltown fire victim survivors' lives

In 2023, hundreds of people were moved to a shelter in Denver after the Usindiso building in the inner city was destroyed by a raging fire.

Shacks constructed for Usindiso building fire victims in Denver, south of Johannesburg, on 16 November 2023. Victims were relocated from a shelter, where they had been seeking refuge since the blaze gutted the hijacked building in August, and killed close to 80 people.

JOHANNESBURG - The City of Joburg has failed to abide by a court order directing it to improve the living conditions of survivors of the tragic Marshalltown fire.

In 2023, hundreds of people were moved to a shelter in Denver after the Usindiso building in the inner city was destroyed by a raging fire.

Once the shelter was found to be uninhabitable, the High Court in Johannesburg gave the municipality three months to install pre-paid electricity at the shelter.

But the survivors are still living in darkness nearly five months after the court order.

Human rights activist Andy Chinnah said the City of Joburg is blatantly disregarding the law.

“Electricity hasn’t been installed. It talks about not understanding the will of the people and they don’t understand that it’s us that elected them into government. They are found by the court to be liable to deliver services and they don’t, so it says to us that they disregard the law.”