Durban Residents Left Homeless by Informal Settlement Fire Plead for Shelter After Homes Burned Down

Durban Residents Left Homeless by Informal Settlement Fire Plead for Shelter After Homes Burned Down

  • The victims of the devastating Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban are pleading for help
  • About 1 000 dwellings were razed to the ground after a fire tore through the settlement, leaving thousands homeless
  • One resident said he couldn't turn to the government because he felt it had failed the informal settlement

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DURBAN - Scores of people have been left homeless after what the Kennedy Road informal settlement residents have described as the worst fire to date.

The victims of the Kennedy Road informal settlement fire are pleading for help
The victims of the Kennedy Road informal settlement fire are pleading for help. Image: @SiphamandlaGoge
Source: Twitter

About 1 000 homes burned in Durban informal settlement fire

An uncontrollable blaze tore through the settlement on Sunday, 16 July burning down an estimated 1 000 homes.

Devastated by the destruction left in the fire's wake, residents with nowhere to stay are pleading for shelter from anyone willing to help.

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Speaking to EWN, one of the settlement's residents, Mxolisi Myeni, said he felt he could not turn to the government because it had failed the informal settlement.

Officials have estimated that about 3 000 people have been left homeless by the blaze, eNCA reported

South Africans weigh in on Durban informal settlement fire

Below are some comments:

@KokoNdhlovu said:

"Devastation... Durban is facing all manner of disasters floods, tornados & fires."

@SpheDludla remarked:

"The Dept of Human Settlements and eThekwini Municipality will never find a solution to the problem that is Kennedy Road."

@FreePovert16387 suggestred:

"Call ZUMA to build for them because are his supporters."

@Jannyochei mourned:

"Such a sad situation."

@RalphSinger13

"See, there are more rewards for voting ANC."

@raycharle100 claimed:

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"This is very strange. First trucks now shacks."

@oddjob6156 asked:

"What is going on in KZN? Has it been cleansed yet?"

@True_Thando_ sympathised:

"Yoh. Everything they own is gone."

Mamelodi informal settlement engulfed in flames, claiming lives of father and 2 children in tragic shack fire

Earlier, Briefly News reported that a fire tore through the Transit Camp in Mamelodi, Tshwane, on Wednesday, 12 June, leaving destruction and tragedy in its wake.

A father and his two children were sadly caught in a shack fire which ultimately claimed their lives.

The Tshwane Emergency Services Spokesperson, Charles Mabaso, said that firefighters responded to a call that multiple at the transit camp were on fire in the early hours of the morning.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Lerato Mutsila avatar

Lerato Mutsila (Current affairs editor) Lerato Mutsila is a journalist with 3 years of experience. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Pearson Institute of Higher Education in 2020, majoring in broadcast journalism, political science and communication. Lerato joined the Briefly News current affairs desk in August 2022. Mutsila is also a fellow of the 2021/2022 Young African Journalists Acceleration programme, which trained African journalists in climate journalism. You can contact Lerato at lerato.mutsila@breifly.co.za