Johannesburg fire: State should be charged with culpable homicide as blaze could easily have been avoided

31 August 2023                    

ActionSA is heartbroken by the death of more than 70 people in the devastating building fire in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, and believes that the state should be charged with culpable homicide as the blaze could easily have been avoided.

For more than three years in the City of Johannesburg Mayor, I repeatedly warned about the dangers hijacked buildings pose to the people living in them, and that they are a disaster waiting to happen. I attempted reclaim more than 400 of these buildings to provide dignified social housing.

But, instead of receiving support from the provincial or national government to ensure no person lives in squalor, I was obstructed at every corner while non-profit organisations blocked attempts in court to have people removed from unsafe living conditions.

ActionSA believes that 29 years democracy it is completely unacceptable that people are forced to live in buildings which are unsanitary and clear fire danger, while they are illegally extorted by mafia-like landlords.

The South African government should take responsibility for bringing the city of Johannesburg to a situation where lawlessness is allowed to proliferate and should take urgent action to avoid similar incidents from happening in other buildings in the city.

ActionSA is committed to addressing the nationwide issue of hijacked buildings and will present solutions to this crisis at our upcoming policy conference from 12 to 14 September.

No country can flourish where lawlessness flourishes, and ActionSA is committed to returning the rule of law to all our communities. Our people, as we have seen in Marshalltown today, simply deserve better.

Issued by Herman Mashaba, ActionSA President, 31 August 2023