Media Statement
CITY OF TSHWANE CONTINUES TO PROVIDE RUDIMENTARY AND OTHER SERVICES TO THE VICTIMS OF A FIRE AT CEMETERY VIEW
25 September 2023
The City of Tshwane continues to provide rudimentary services in the form of chemical toilets and water to the victims of a fire at Cemetery View, Pretoria East, where shacks were razed by a fire on Saturday evening.
The City’s Emergency Services Department responded to a raging fire that engulfed 300 shacks and left three people dead in its wake – two adults and a child – at the informal settlement next to Pretoria East Cemetery, behind Woodlands Mall. The Emergency Services Department managed to extinguish the fire.
The City mobilised resources and activated a humanitarian and social relief plan in the aftermath of the fire disaster which displaced about 2 000 residents.
Today, the City’s Human Settlements Department provided the following rudimentary services:
- Three 5 000 ℓ JoJo tanks
- 13 chemical toilets serviced twice a week
- One 10 000 ℓ mobile water tank truck
The City of Tshwane’s Community and Social Development Services Department is coordinating social relief efforts together with other stakeholders in order to ensure the provision of food and other related services.
Last evening, the City made four buses available to transport the residents to temporary accommodation venues arranged at Stanza Bopape Hall in Mamelodi East, as well as at the community hall in Mamelodi West. However, the buses had to return to the depot empty after the residents refused to board them.
Despite the City’s offer to assist the victims and reduce the burden of the difficulty they have endured since the fire broke out on Saturday, they are adamant that they will not relocate, and that they will instead rebuild their structures, a process which started last evening and is ongoing.
The City of Tshwane’s Community and Social Development Services Department and Emergency Services Department are coordinating intergovernmental social relief efforts together with other structures, such as the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and the Department and Human Settlements, in order to ensure that the victims’ plight receive the necessary consideration.
Immigration officers from the Department of Home Affairs are at the scene registering the residents of Cemetery View in order to determine their nationality and status.
Issued by Communication, Marketing and Events.