Taiwan informal settlement, Site C, Khayelitsha, on the evening of the fire. Picture supplied.
Over 400 people who were affected by a fire that burned through more than 140 shack-homes have rebuilt their houses and lives, thanks to donations from organizations and members of the public.
On New Years Day a violent fire spread through the shack-homes of the Taiwan informal settlement, leaving hundreds of families exposed and without their primary shield against the battle of Covid-19. Amid the lockdown and pandemic, residents were left with no shelter, furniture, clothes and food. Many of whom say they lost important documents such as their identity documents and SASSA cards in the flames. NGO’s like the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and Khayelitsha Community Action Network (KhayelitshaCAN) came together in rallying donations and relief for the victims.
Sibusiso Mdlankomo, 29, a community Activist and Organizer at SJC has lived in Taiwan since 1998 and currently stays with his wife, twin sister and aunt. Mdlankomo lives three houses from where the fire started and says it was around 21h00 when he heard the screams of panic on the evening of the first of January, “people were still going up and down outside. We were watching TV and preparing to do my laundry at the same time. When I heard there was a fire, I called members of the SJC and KhayelitshaCAN for assistance.” He says that residents of Taiwan ran to the fire department when they noticed the fire and only found two firefighters on duty. “The firefighters said they couldn’t come and assist because there were only two. People resorted to calling the police to escort the Fire Department. Even the police took a long time to get there and when they finally arrived, the firefighters claimed their trucks didn’t have enough water. They only started to extinguish the fire late around 1am.”
On the day after the fire, 02 January 2021, KhayelitshaCAN visited Taiwan and engaged with community members and leaders about the forms of relief that they will need. “Majority of people are patients and take medication, so they lost that medication. An individual who is physically challenged lost items like his portable toilet to relieve himself. Because there were no emergency kits provided by the City of Cape Town due to budget cuts, many people were left with nothing.” Says Buhle Booi from KhayelitshaCAN. Following that meeting, KhayelitshaCAN and SJC initiated donations and assistance from the public and other organizations for food, clothes, bedding and building materials, “we partnered with local stores that serve food and asked them to go and serve breakfast to the community because we don’t have the resources alone. Since the second day after the fire until recently, we had been cooking for the community and setting up soup kitchens.”
Houses burned to ashes and unusable material. Picture: Supplied
Spokesperson for the City’s Fire & Rescue Service, Jermaine Carelse, described the scene to be chaotic upon arrival, “the structures were set alight and people were screaming at the firefighters. The wind was very strong that evening. An assessment was made and more resources to put out the fire were sent to assist.” Carelse says the cause of the fire in Taiwan is still undetermined, “there are a number of contributing factors which include strong winds, dry conditions, and high temperatures, and most commonly in townships, informal structures are built too close to each other.” Carelse didn’t respond to the questions about their time of arrival and the number of firefighters who were available to assist on that evening.
The blaze in Taiwan comes after the disaster in Masiphumelele that set 1000 structures alight and displaced more than 5000 residents on the 17th of December 2020. The area was declared a disaster to enable emergency kits and other resources of immediate relief to be allocated. Booi notes that disasters of fire like these have been happening year-in-year-out in informal settlement communities in Khayelitsha since 2006, “there are various interventions that could be made in terms of providing fire resistant materials to the communities and to de-densify these areas, which the City has not been able to do. The high density of our communities leaves very few lives to be spared in the instance of fire.” Booi says that although some have been able to rebuild their homes, the City should be proactive in preempting disasters like these and adequately preparing for them.
According to a statement by Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, the nationwide lockdown definitely impacted on the number of calls that the Fire and Rescue Service responded to in the last few months since 2020. They have recently reported that during the December period, the Fire and Rescue Service responded to more than 2 000 vegetation and structural fires, showing a yearly increase. “The City does offer emergency shelter options to persons in need, but given the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of community halls is not an option currently. Many people also turn down alternative shelter options as they prefer to remain close to the incident site, so as to not lose an opportunity to re-erect their structure”.
The SJC and KhayelitshaCAN are currently looking into challenging the City for their decision not to include the victims of the disaster in Taiwan in the budget for relief.
To donate to Taiwan families:
Clothes, food, building material and school uniform please contact:
Nkosikhona Swartbooi 073 435 7580
Buhle Booi 073 469 8750