Media statement 28 August 2023
Ald Grandi Theunissen
MMC for Community Safety
As the MMC for Community Safety, I am saddened to hear about the loss of five innocent children due to a fire incident at Itireleng Informal Settlement near Laudium.
The five children, three boys aged 2, 4 and 6, and two girls aged 1 year, 5 months and 7 years, belonged to two sisters. It is alleged that the two women left the children untended in one shack over Saturday night, leading into the early hours of Sunday morning, 27 August 2023, when the fire broke out.
After receiving a call at approximately 04:26, the City’s Emergency Services Department dispatched various firefighting and support units to the scene.
Once at the scene, firefighting operations started as multiple shacks were already engulfed by the fire. The firefighters found the remains of the children in the ruins of the shacks after the fire was extinguished. The mothers of the children were arrested.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. On behalf of the City, I would like to once again express my condolences and deep sympathies to the children’s families and loved ones.
I would also like to call on all parents and caregivers to ensure that children are always left under the care of an adult. Let us all learn valuable lessons from this unfortunate incident.
Enquiries:
Ald Grandi Theunissen