It’s been nearly two years since a devastating fire that claimed 76 lives, including children, broke out at a five-storey building in Mashalltown, Johannesburg.
The tragedy at Usindiso building, in which so many people perished in a matter of hours, remains one of the darkest moments in our democratic era .
It exposed failures in how the state seeks to address issues of urban decay, human settlements and development in high-density cities such as Johannesburg. In the aftermath of the disaster we had hopes that the City of Johannesburg would learn valuable lessons on how to show compassion and empathy to the most vulnerable inhabitants of the metro and not the indifference that had led to the tragedy.
We hoped that a sense of urgency would be instilled in the city’s administration to address ongoing housing problems that see vulnerable people exploited by building hijackers. Perhaps we were wrong in our optimism.
Since the fire that left many people displaced, the city’s indifference towards the survivors has been well documented.
Take the victims who were relocated to a tin shack settlement near Denver hostel, east of the CBD, for example. The conditions they were made to live under, in shacks that were flooded during summer rains and cold in winter, were not only appalling but also exposed a complete disregard for their safety.
On Friday we report on horror stories of some of the victims remaining in the Denver settlement, who, despite escaping the tragedy of two years ago, have not been able to get away from crime. The lawlessness they continue to be exposed to is a product of the city’s ongoing decline, with law enforcement and public safety effectively nonexistent.
One survivor, Thobeka Biyela, is lucky to be still alive after she was hit by two bullets while sleeping in her shack. She says gun violence in the area every night has spread fear in the small community, especially among mothers living with their children.
That the city chose to relocate the survivors, who are mostly women, next to a men’s hostel known as a bastion of violence and killings, is simply callous.
The survivors, who are mothers, some with young children, are being subjected to secondary trauma as shootings, robberies and attacks are becoming daily occurrences. While their relocation was meant to give them temporary shelter for about six months, no one has bothered to explain to residents why they are still living in a transit camp two years later.
The only reasonable conclusion for this broken promise is that those in charge of the city simply don’t care.
SowetanLIVE
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