05/07/2017: City saddened by lives lost in fire at Cape York building
My deepest condolences go to the families of the seven residents who lost their lives today, when a fire broke out in the Cape York building, within the inner city.
I also wish the seven residents who were taken to hospital a speedy recovery.
The City’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) Department has managed to bring the fire under control and the City’s Disaster Management Unit is assisting the building’s displaced residents with finding alternative accommodation, blankets and food.
The City deployed 6 fire engines and 34 firefighters in a bid to control the blaze and rescue residents trapped within the building.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and is being investigated by the law enforcement authorities. The building has been declared a crime scene for the duration of this investigation; we have agreed with the building’s owner that it will be sealed once the investigation is complete.
Unfortunately, today, alongside the MMC for Safety, Cllr Michael Sun, and officials from EMS and JMPD, was not my first encounter with the Cape York building.
Less than two months ago I accompanied JMPD and the SAPS as part of a raid of the building in search of 13 year old Kitso Mothibe. The same building was again raided by the SAPS recently.
The City of Johannesburg is facing a major housing backlog estimated at 300 000 units, and an average delivery of only 3500 housing units per year.
As such, we have limited space to move our people out of these buildings.
Making matters worse, slumlords are using our residents’ desperation to their advantage by extorting huge sums of money from those who turn to them for shelter, even under the most horrible of living conditions.
Moving forward, I remain committed to working with EMS in our efforts to get all hijacked buildings in the City declared unsafe and unsanitary; raids of these hijacked buildings will also be increased.
Through the City's Department of Social Development, Housing, Group Forensic and Investigation Services and the Johannesburg Property Company, we are in a process of finalising an analysis of all our City-owned buildings with the aim of converting them into affordable, low cost housing for our residents. We have also allocated R219 million to JOSCHO in our adjustment budget for this purpose.
The revitalisation of the inner city is key to ensuring we build a safe, inclusive City which holds opportunities for our all residents. To achieve this, rundown and hijacked buildings must be turned into quality low cost housing for residents and affordable rental spaces for small businesses.
My door remains open to all stakeholders in government, civil society and the private sector, for the purpose of achieving this aim.
I remain committed to clamping down on the rot in our inner city and turning it into a prosperous place where our people to can live, work and play.
Cllr Herman Mashaba
Executive Mayor
City of Johannesburg
For further information, please contact:
Karabo Tledima
Media Specialist: Private Office of the Mayor
City of Johannesburg
061 794 3819
KaraboT@joburg.org.za
