Fire Devastates Johannesburg Informal Settlement, No Injuries Reported
- The Johannesburg Emergency Management Services fought a fire that spread through an informal settlement in Johannesburg
- The incident took place in Selby near the Johannesburg CBD, and it is not clear what caused the fire
- Some South Africans believed that the fire was karma for South Africans who laughed at the LA fires
Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered accidents, fires, outbreaks, nature, weather and natural disaster-related incidents at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for seven years.

Source: Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG — No lives have been lost in a fire that spread through an informal settlement near the Johannesburg CBD on 27 January 2025.
Fire guts informal settlement in Johannesburg
According to eNCA, the fire ripped through an informal settlement in Selby near the Johannesburg CBD. Nobody was injured. The cause of the fire is not known. A video of the incident shows distressed residents escaping the fire and trying to salvage their belongings.
Watch the video here:
Similar informal settlement fires
- Two people lost their lives when a fire gutted five shacks in an informal settlement near Cape Town in June 2024
- An informal settlement in Johannesburg caught fire and destroyed many homes during the festive season
- Over 130 residents in Langa, Cape Town, lost their homes after a fire gutted eight hostels and 25 shacks

Source: Getty Images
South Africans discuss the fire
Netizens on Facebook remarked that the fire was karma.
Warren Brown said:
"I wonder how many people from LA are gonna come here and laugh at them. Not so funny when it's happening to you or your family, is it?"
Bettie Steyn said:
"That's what happens when you laugh at those people in LA."
Truthfully Hurts said:
"Africans were laughing at the LA fires and then boom, karma strikes."
Dan Naidoo said:
"The ANC has converted most of South Africa into a squatter camp."
John Nkumise said:
"Informal settlements have never been safe and will never be safe."
Djehuti Tlhavani said:
"Shame on you, Ramaphosa. Shame on your GNU."
Gauteng fires displace thousands
In a similar article, Briefly News reported that two fires that broke out in Gauteng in September 2024 destroyed over 800 homes, leaving more than 2600 people homeless. One person was killed by one of the blazes.
A fire broke out at the Cemetery View Informal Settlement in Pretoria, displacing over 2000 people. More were displaced when a fire broke out in an informal settlement in Jeppestown, Johannesburg.
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Source: Briefly News