The 14 July 2008 Kennedy Road Fire, picture taken on a cellphone by Matt Birkinshaw

Abahlali baseMjondolo very much appreciates the fact that these days, after years of struggle, the fire department and the media come to shack fires. The service from the fire department is now very good and the media treat us with respect when they come and talk to us and they write about us like we are people. But we remain concerned that the focus of the media is so often on the accident that caused the fire. It is important to remember that the reason why a small accident in a shack can easily mean that hundreds of families will lose their homes while a small accident in a house is just a small accident is because:

1. Since 2002 the eThekwini has refused to electrify shacks forcing people to rely on dangerous sources of heat and lighting like candles, fires and paraffin stoves.
2. The eThekwini Municipality has failed to provide housing for its people while recklessly and irresponsibly wasting money on stadiums and themeparks and the AI Grand Prix, 2010 etc.

We are also concerned about the behaviour of the councillors and other officials. They are everywhere in the media talking about what they will do for us but they are not here with us talking to us and planning our future with us. We would like to remind everyone that we fired our councillor in 2005 and that since then we have spoken for ourselves. Some of the officials are saying that the people must not rebuild and will be moved into a transit camp tomorrow. Others have said that the council will provide building materials so that the people can rebuild their homes themselves. Abahlali rejects transit camps as a new form of oppression. PEOPLE NEED DECENT HOUSING IN THE CITIES AND PROPER SERVICES IN THE SETTLEMENTS WHILE THEY WAIT AND NOT TRANSIT CAMPS WHICH ARE JUST A NEW FORM OF OPPRESSION.

Abahlali has negotiated for the people who lost their homes in the fire to get independent access to building materials and the people have been building all day and will build all night. By tomorrow we will have rebuilt the part of the settlement that was devastated by fire ON OUR OWN AND WITH OUR OWN BUILDING MATERIALS. Abahlali is also cooking big pots of food for the people working to rebuild and their children.

For comment or to offer support to the families that have lost everything please contact the chair of the Kennedy Road Development Committee and Deputy President of Abahlali baseMjondolo Mashumi Figlan who is currently working on the rebuilding at 0795843995.

Click here for information on previous fires in Kennedy Road and other Abahlali settlements, here for Bishop Rubin Phillip’s 2008 UnFreedom Day Speech calling on the eThekwini Municipality to electrify the shacks and here for pictures of the rebuilding.

Media Updates: Click here for a follow up article Mercury on 16 July, here for another rant by Lennox Mabaso in the Daily News on 18 July and here for the Daily News on 21 July on their surprise at finding that an English activist was also caught in the fire.

http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4507599
The Daily News
‘MEC all talk, no show’
Burned out shack dwellers angry at lack of delivery

July 15, 2008 Edition 1
RIVONIA NAIDU and MPUME MADLALA

The ANC government has failed the people who have put them in power.
This is the sentiment of hundreds of shack dwellers in the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Clare Estate whose homes went up in flames early yesterday morning.

Black smoke billowed into the sky, drifting across Durban, and could be seen kilometres away as some 80 shacks burned to the ground, leaving around 200 people homeless.

While rebuilding their homes, residents said they were disappointed with KwaZulu-Natal housing MEC, Mike Mabuyakhulu, and that his promises to build homes “proved he was all talk and no show”.

Mabuyakhulu’s spokesman, Lennox Mabaso, said the department would do everything in its power to assist with emergency essentials for those affected by the fire.

“With regards to houses, we will use our available resources to upscale housing delivery in the province, and we will make sure these people are assisted,” he said.

In this year alone, there have been five fires at the settlement, and residents say they are tired of asking government to help them when “government isn’t interested in them”.

“This settlement has been here for about 30 years now. How long do some of us have to wait before we get proper houses … how many people, and children have to die,” said one of the residents who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Dazed and confused residents watched in horror yesterday as firefighters battled the fierce flames.

Many residents risked their lives by running into their shacks to grab what they could. Some people were still sleeping while others were getting ready for work when the fire broke out.

Some had already left work and returned home to find they had lost everything and were left with only the clothes they had on.

It is believed the fire began in Shonaphi Nzulani’s house, when her four-year-old son switched on the paraffin stove. Nzulani and her sons were at a neighbour’s house when they became aware of the fire.
They are now being kept in a safe-house after angry residents tried to attack Nzulani.

Andile Dlungwane said it was the third time this year that his home had been burned, and he had lost everything.

“It’s devastating to see everything I have go up in flames. I don’t have a job and so I don’t have much, and this is painful. Everything is gone, my ID, my clothes … what I’m wearing now is all I have,” he said.

KZN Shack Dwellers’ Association (Abahlali baseMjondolo) president S’bu Zikode said: “The Housing MEC has failed his people. And while they keep saying they are building houses for us, I believe they have no plan.” Zikode said this fire was not an isolated one, and described the lives of shack dwellers as “inhumane”.

“The way we are treated is really worrying.

Services

If government does not provide us with homes, then they need to provide us with basic services such as water, electricity and toilets.

“For example, in this settlement, there are five water pipes to cater for about 8 000 people. How can people live like that?” he asked.

He said many lives would be saved if they were provided with electricity, “which is cheaper than paraffin”.

In past years, the Kennedy Road settlement has been plagued by fires that have left many people dead and hundreds homeless.

Apart from the five fires this year, in November last year, a disabled woman was killed after her shack caught alight, and in April last year, a massive fire destroyed 100 shacks and caused the death of two people. In 2005, a one-year-old boy was burned to death.

http://www.isolezwe.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4507312

Isolezwe

Basale nokusemzimbeni abashelwe imijondolo
July 15, 2008 Edition 1
BAWINILE NGCOBO

IJAMILE impilo kubantu abahlala emijondolo eku-Kennedy Road e-Claire Estate, eThekwini, emuva kokusha kwemijondolo engaphezulu kwekhulu kulandela ukuqubuka komlilo okusolwa ukuthi udalwe ukuqhuma kwesitofu sikapharafini ebesishiywe sivutha komunye wemijondolo. Sekungokwesihlanu le mijondolo isha selokhu kuqale unyaka.

Amakhulu abantu bakule ndawo asale nobekusemzimbeni kuphela njengoba kushe yonke impahla yabo okukhona nezingubo zokugqoka, omazisi, amakhadi asebhange.
Iningi labantu abashelwe izindlu zabo bese lisemsebenzini ngesikhathi kuqala umlilo. UNksz Abigail Shange uthe kungene ucingo esevele esemsebenzini okude buduze nale mijondolo limtshela ukuthi akaphuthume ngoba kuyasha.
“Angibange ngisafica lutho, ngiphelele njengoba nginje,” kusho uNksz Shange echiphiza.

Omunye wabahlali oshelwe yikho konke uNksz Khanyisile Ncobela otshele Isolezwe ukuthi uthe uyazama ukuthuthela endlini encane ebiseduze ezinye izimpahla zakhe ngoba ebona umlilo ungakafiki ngakhona, umlilo wamane weza ngamandla washisa yonke into.

“Angazi into engizoyithini le njengoba sengishelwe ngisho umazisi. Ngisho umuntu obengivakashele ushelwe umazisi kanye nezincwadi zokushayela,” kuchaza uNksz Ncobela.

Uqhube wathi imizamo yabo yokunqanda umlilo usaqala iphelele emoyeni njengoba ubuhamba ngamandla.

“Emva kokuzwa ukuthi kuyasha sizame ukucisha, sithela amanzi kodwa kube ngathi siwuqhubezela phambili,” kusho uNksz Ncobela.

Ngesikhathi izintatheli zaleliphephanda zifika umlilo ubusavutha, intuthu ikuhila uzimele kude. Abantu bebegijima phakathi nomlilo bezama ukuhlenga izimpahla zabo.

Abanye bebegane unwabu befuna ukubamba ngezandla umnikazi womjondolo okuqale kuwo umlilo ngoba bemsola ngobudedengu.

Umnikazi walo mjondolo uNksz Shonaphi Zulani uthe akazi ukuthi umlilo uqale kanjani njengoba yena ubehambile eye endlini kadadewabo ekhona kule ndawo.
“Isitofu besicishiwe ngenkathi ngihamba ngoba ngisho nengane yami eneminyaka emithathu bengiyishiye ibukela i-TV kamakhelwane. Kungenzeka ukuthi ibuyelile endlini yalayitha isitofu,” kusho uNksz Zulani.

Ikhansela lendawo, uMnuz Yacoob Baig, lithe kuyakhathaza ukusha kwemijondolo kule ndawo ngoba kubukeka kuyinto eseyenzeka njalo.

“Kwenzeka lokhu nje ngesonto eledlule kade ngiyozikhalela kumasipala ngenhlalo yabantu bakule ndawo, ngicela ukuthi bathuthelwe endaweni engcono ngokushesha. Ngizoba nomhlangano nabaphathi wophiko lwezindlu kumasipala namuhla ngalolu daba,” kuchaza u-Baig.

Okhulumela abezinhlekelele eThekwini, uMnuz Lungisa Manzi, uthe bazosiza abashelwe imijondolo ngamatende esikhashana nezingubo zokulala.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4507058
The Mercury

Kennedy Road settlement fire leaves 200 homeless
July 15, 2008 Edition 1
GUGU MBONAMBI & NOMPUMELELO MAGWAZA

The eThekwini Municipality will supply blankets, tents and a mobile kitchen to scores of people left destitute after fire gutted 80 shacks at the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Clare Estate, Durban, yesterday morning.
The fire left about 200 people homeless, and schoolchildren without books and uniforms.

Ward councillor Yacoob Baig said: “Temporary help has been provided for those affected by the fire, and local schools have been notified that children affected have lost their books and school uniforms.”

Baig said the municipality was working with NGOs and the private sector to get sponsors to help with school uniforms.

According to S’bu Zikode, president of Abahlali Basemjondolo (shack dwellers’ movement), this was the fifth fire at the settlement since the beginning of the year.

“Help from the disaster management office is appreciated, but we still call upon the municipality to build houses.

“We cannot have the municipality coming here only when we have such disasters,” he said.

The eThekwini fire department’s division commander, Alfred Newman, said that the fire had started at about 8am.

A paraffin stove left unattended is suspected to have caused the fire. There were no injuries or fatalities reported in the incident.

Many people lost all their belongings in the fire, including their identity documents and money.

Khanyisile Ncobela said: “We tried to put the fire out, but it was too vigorous. I have never seen anything like this before.”

Baig said the municipality was offering material to displaced people to reconstruct their shacks. Disaster management head Lungisa Manzi said that short-term relief such as food and blankets had been provided, and arrangements were being made to link the people who lost their documents with the home affairs department.

http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=801606
Municipality to help rebuild shacks
Nivashni Nair
July 15, 2008

Eighty shacks destroyed in a fire at an informal settlement in Durban are expected to be rebuilt today with materials supplied by the eThekwini municipality.

A few hours after the blaze gutted the Kennedy Road shacks near the Durban CBD, a bulldozer was commissioned to level the ground so the new structures could be constructed.

It is believed that a paraffin stove caused the fire, which has left about 300 people homeless.

No one was injured.

“The homeless will be accommodated in two tents and a local community hall. We have distributed blankets, food supplies and have supplied corrugated iron and timber to rebuild the homes,” said Lungisa Manzi, the municipal head of disaster management.

Manzi said the identity documents and grant papers of many residents were destroyed in the fire.

The municipality will appeal to the department of home affairs to assist with issuing new documents as soon as possible.

Local councillor Yacoob Baig told The Times that clean-up operations were under way and that hot meals were being provided for residents.

“There is a lot of rubble from the fire that has to be moved, so the bulldozer has been operating in the area since the fire was put out. We have spoken to food suppliers who are willing to donate food. At this stage, a hot meal and shelter are being provided,” he said.

The Kennedy Road informal settlement made headlines in 2006 when residents clashed with police during a protest against living conditions.
A child died in the settlement after being bitten by a rat.

The week-long clash intensified when police used rubber bullets to disperse a crowd protesting against the arrests of the local president and vice-president of the shack-dwellers’ organisation, Abahlali baseMjondolo.

In the past residents have boycotted municipal elections and accused the municipality of ignoring their plight.

http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4506205

Blaze guts 80 homes
Settlement fire leaves 200 homeless

July 14, 2008 Edition 3
MPUME MADLALA

SCORES of shacks went up in flames in the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Clare Estate this morning, as firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control.

Black smoke billowed into the sky, drifting across Durban, and could be seen kilometres away.

By 10am, firefighters had doused most of the flames and had managed to contain the fire to a corner of the settlement.

eThekwini fire department divisional commander Alfred Newman said: “Between 60 and 80 shacks were totally gutted in the fire. There were no injuries or fatalities.”

About 200 people are believed to be homeless and Newman said the disaster management team would be helping them.

Shonaphi Nzulani and her four-year-old son were lucky to escape the flames.
She said the fire could have started in her dwelling.

“I switched off my paraffin stove, but I think my son switched it on again.
“I was at my sister’s house when I saw the shack go up in flames,” she said.
Nzulani said she tried to run back to save her valuables but she was stopped by an explosion. Her son was not hurt.

Dazed and confused residents watched in horror as firefighters tried to control the fierce flames.

Many residents risked their lives by running into their shacks to grab what they could. Some people were still sleeping while others were getting ready for work when the fire broke out.

Firefighters said they were confident they would be able to extinguish the fire soon.

Damage
Terry Goulding, the loss control officer for the fire department, said the fire caused huge damage: “Part of the settlement could not be saved and we will try to get blankets to those who have lost their homes,” he said.
Sanwell Nsingo, a spokesman for the shack dwellers’ movement, said they were tired of seeing their shacks go up in flames. “We don’t want temporary houses, we want a permanent solution.”

Firefighters were also kept busy at another location by a fire in Queen Mary Avenue near the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College Campus early this morning.

Some firefighters who were at the house fire had to rush across to Kennedy Road.
An officer at the Metro Police control room said the Glenmore fire was contained and there were no injuries.

The Kennedy Road settlement has been plagued by fires that have left many people dead and hundreds homeless. In November last year, a disabled woman was killed after her shack caught alight in a fire believed to have been caused by a candle that was knocked over.

In April last year a massive fire destroyed 100 shacks and caused the death of two people. Police also believed the fire started after a candle fell over.
In 2005, a one-year-old boy was burned to death. The cause again was a candle. The blaze also destroyed 16 neighbouring shacks.

Residents have been locked in battle with the eThekwini municipality, demanding the supply of water and electricity.