The politicians keep claiming that the conditions in Kennedy Road are bad because AbM refuses to accept removal and has therefore ‘stopped development’. They are lying. In fact AbM negotiated the move to Cornubia (for those who could not be accommodated in the upgrade) with the City and was able to negotiate both the upgrade and the move to Cornubia on the back of a mass struggle. Obed Mlaba forced offered Cornubia in 2006 after AbM marched on him demanding ‘land and housing’. The fact that there has been no progress in the development is the responsibility of the Municipality and not people that have demanded land and housing.
Click here to read ‘A Big Devil in the Jondolos: A report on Shack Fires’ by Matt Birkinshaw (2008).
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20100810123353558C817448&singlepage=1
Blaze guts Kennedy Road
August 10 2010 at 05:05PM
By Anelisa Khubeka and Lyse Comins
A raging fire which destroyed thousands of shacks at the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban has left about 1 100 people destitute.
The fire, which destroyed about 500 shacks, is believed to have started at 11pm on Sunday and continued to rage until early on Monday. It subsided at about 2am. Police are investigating a case of arson.
Fire department divisional commander, Alfred Newman, said firefighters arrived at about 11pm and fought the blaze for one-and-a-half hours before bringing it under control.
He said there were three minor injuries to residents, and two firemen had been taken to hospital for observation after suffering heat exhaustion.
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“On arrival we found a large number of shacks alight. There were no people reported missing, but later during operations, when people were trying to evacuate, we had two people injured and someone fainted.
“We had five fire engines in attendance dealing with the fire. It was tough firefighting conditions for us. We had to fight that fire from three ends to knock it out. There was a south-westerly wind blowing and it made conditions unbearable for us, but there were no fatalities.”
Newman said a headcount at the community hall at 9am yesterday indicated that 1 100 people had been displaced.
“About 500 shacks were totally destroyed by fire. At this stage no one is giving us information on where the fire first started and what the cause is.
“There are visible illegal electrical connections in the settlement, but the cause of the fire at this stage is unknown.”
SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mdunge said residents were treated for smoke inhalation and bruises and those who had lost their homes would be housed in community halls.
“People were treated for smoke inhalation and two minors were treated for bruises. We are investigating a suspected case of arson,” he said.
Yesterday, the air at the informal settlement was still heavy with the stench of the fire. However, this did not deter other residents, including children who spent most of the day outside, from lighting small fires to keep warm in the face of the windy cold front and nippy temperature.
Letha Madida, 25, has lived in the informal settlement since she was three and now lives there with her children aged five and three.
Madida said they had seen the fire on the far side of the shacks and had helped neighbours closer to the fire to move their belongings out of their homes, thinking that her home was safe and would not be reached by the flames.
“While we were moving out our neighbours’ belongings, a strong wind began, which caused the fire to get out of control and move towards our homes and by that time there was nothing we could do to save our belongings.”
Madida added that one of the most important items she had lost in the fire was her identity document.
She said at least she could explain to her employers that her uniform had been lost in the fire and get another one, but her life would come to a standstill without her ID.
“It is not that easy to replace identity document,” Madida said.
Unemployed residents who were due to collect their social grants this week were worried because they had lost their social grant cards in the blaze.
Most of the residents, who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity, said they were sick and tired of reading in newspapers about how they did not want to move from Kennedy Road.
“We are tired of living under these circumstances and it is not true that we do not want to move,” said one resident.
“When I started living here in 1994 there weren’t this many people and if we had houses built for us then, we would not be in this predicament.”
Residents said that if they had electricity they would not have to live with the constant fires.
However, when they went to the municipality’s electricity department they were told that electricity was not installed in informal settlements.
Area councillor Yacoob Baig said there were more permanent relocation plans in place, but it was not clear when they would be implemented.
“At the moment we are looking at having tents put up for residents temporarily and others have been sleeping at the community hall, but I am going to be in meetings with officials and Nigel Gumede to decide on a more permanent solution,” he said.
Baig said there had been land identified in Kennedy Road to build houses for the informal settlement residents, and plans were in place to move some of them to about 35 000 houses in Cornubia in east Phoenix.
“By Wednesday (tomorrow) we will have the necessary department here to help residents replace their important documentation such as identity documents and social grant cards,” said Baig.
* This article was originally published on page 6 of Daily News on August 10, 2010