At least 18 shacks burned down, leaving 47 people destitute in the M Section informal settlement in Site B, Khayelitsha, on Monday 31 August. The blaze started at 06:30. The cause is unknown.

I was on my way to work

Nonkanyiso Mphokeli, owner of the shack where the flames started, said she is still puzzled by the incident. She said she was on her way to work when she saw the smoke.

“I woke up at 05:30, took my child to crèche and came back to the shack to prepare to go to work. I left just after 06:00, and at that time all the electrical appliances were switched off. The bus stop is five minutes away from my shack,” said the distraught parent.

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She said while they were standing at the bus stop, they saw smoke rising. They thought it was one of the residents who usually makes a fire to cook smiley (sheep’s head).

“We were even asking ourselves where this smoke was coming from so early in the morning. Because the smoke was getting bigger, we asked one of the guys who was standing with us to quickly go and check, then we followed him. To my shock, the flames were in my shack. The blaze overwhelmed my shack. I knocked on my neighbours’ doors asking for assistance, but it was too late,” she said, adding that the flames spread to 18 other shacks.

Mphokeli was adamant that she does not know what caused the blaze.

Fire and Rescue Service responds

The City’s Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said the service received the call at 06:30 on Monday 31 August reporting structures alight in M Section off Jeff Masemila Road in Khayelitsha.

“Crews from various fire stations were on the scene with more than 20 firefighters battling the blaze. By 08:30, the fire was extinguished. The fire destroyed 18 structures, leaving approximately 47 persons displaced,” he stated, adding that no injuries were reported and that the cause is unknown.