The Democratic Alliance is seeking answers from the Gauteng Government as to why the 76 people who perished in the Usindiso building fire, in Marshalltown, were still in mortuary. Media reports stated that some of the victims bodies were still unclaimed.
The DA’s Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements, Mervyn Cirota put the blame squarely on Premier Panyaza Lesufi for failing to intervene on the matter.
“The bodies of the victims of the Marshalltown fire that occurred a year ago are still at the state mortuaries due Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s government not doing enough to intervene and ensure dignified burial.
Some survivors are still detained at the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp, awaiting deportation. Others are homeless and enduring the most inhumane conditions. Only a cruel and irresponsible government would stand by as a calamity unfolds,” Cirota said.
The shadow MEC said the party has been calling on the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), the City of Johannesburg, and the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) to develop a viable and effective policy to address the issue of highjacked buildings and homelessness in the inner city. To date, nothing has been done. Inaction has become entrenched.
“A lack of policy or direction in dealing with hijacked buildings is evident in the remarks of the City of Johannesburg's new Mayor, Dada Morero, stating that the challenge of reclaiming hijacked buildings is "bigger" than initially imagined by officials. Premier Panyaza Lesufi's interventions have also failed to introduce a meaningful and implementable solution.
The DA reiterated its demands for the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, COGTA, the City of Johannesburg, and the JDA to provide the residents of Gauteng with information on what they will do to prevent future fires and unnecessary loss of lives”.
Cirota said all these entities and departments needed to work with the Department of Home Affairs to identify the bodies languishing in the state morgue so that families can bury their loved ones.
Furthermore, the party appealed to the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) to identify the Marshalltown fire victims and provide them with the necessary social services.
“The DA will also undertake an oversight inspection at the Lindela Repatriation Centre to evaluate the situation.
A solution-oriented DA government would engage with building owners and stakeholders to address the issue of hijacked buildings. It would also prioritise relocating occupants, combating building hijackers, and repurposing condemned structures,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association (JPOMA) General Manager, Angela Rivers told the publication that the issue of the hijacked buildings can be resolved if government would partner with private property owners in order to provide affordable and reliable housing for the people.
Rivers said both governments and the city needed to understand that they can’t do this by themselves.
“Our members have been in the inner city for more than 20 years converting office blocks into affordable housing: we have the IP, we have the knowledge and we know how to do it with a reasonable cost.
Government just seems to think they can work in a silo, and it doesn’t work like that,” she added.
River said their attempt to try and engage government has not been successful.
A commission of enquiry into the Usindiso fire found that the City of Johannesburg was liable for the tragedy and called on the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) to account.
Attempts to get a comment from both Lesufi’s spokesperson Sizwe Pamla and Social Development spokesperson Were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
Saturday Star