A 5-year-old girl and a man died on Saturday night after fire destroyed 300 shacks in Woodland Cemetery Informal settlement, Tshwane, the City of Tshwane Emergency Services confirmed in a statement.
Tshwane Emergency Services Department acting spokesperson Peter Motolla said they received a call at about 20:19 on Saturday on a grass fire at Plastics View.
“On our arrival we realized that it wasn’t at Plastics View but at Woodland Cemetery. We started extinguishing the fire and we counted 300 shacks that have been burned down and 2 000 people left homeless.
“On our rescue we discovered two bodies of a male and a 5-year-old girl child. The cause of the fire is still unknown. We requested our disaster management team to come on the scene to do an assessment. They have done assessment and they are currently busy with social relief,” said Motolla.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.
Last weekend, residents of Kameeldrift, Tshwane lost everything when strong winds ignited a fire from a dumping site which destroyed at least 90 shacks, leaving scores without shelter.
The City of Tshwane has said it was committed to relocating residents of Kameeldrift permanently to another land once internal processes are completed.
“The City is also waiting for the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) to announce its decision on the Section24(G) application. The township establishment application can be finalised for approval as soon as these outstanding issues have been resolved,” MMC for Human Settlement, Ofentse Madzebatela had said.
