Somerset West police have opened an inquest docket following a fatal fire that claimed the life of an unidentified woman at the informal settlement along the Lourens River banks, behind the Traffic Testing Centre, last Tuesday night (5 December).
The incident called to action various emergency personnel aided by swift Victoria Park Neighbourhood Watch (VPNW) members, all determined to douse the blaze fanned on by strong winds.
Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services, said firefighting crews responded to an emergency call of what was initially reported to be a vegetation fire off Victoria Street around 21:20.
“When the crew from Somerset West Fire Station arrived on the scene they found it was in fact informal structures burning along the river bank,” he related. “To contain the fire, additional crews from Sir Lowry’s Pass and Strand were dispatched.”
Carelse further divulged the body of an adult woman, who sustained fatal burn wounds, was discovered in the debris at 21:40. The fire, which destroyed more than 10 structures and left several people displaced, was extinguished after 23:00.
The cause of the fire is undetermined, pending police investigation.
On enquiry, Sergeant Suzan Jantjies, spokesperson for Somerset West police, confirmed the incident in the area, known as the “Wrong Turn” informal settlement, where makeshift homes and structures are increasingly popping up, much to the dismay of surrounding communities. “On the police’s arrival the fire brigade was already on the scene where the body of an unidentified woman was discovered,” she said. “The body was burnt beyond recognition.”
Jantjies further urged anyone with information to contact the police station on 021 850 1300.
Spotlight on safety
The incident squarely places the spotlight on the safety of learners and staff at Tereo Community School, which operates from City-leased premises adjacent to the informal settlement. Principal Ann Coetzee was alerted to the incident by the school’s security provider, tasked with protecting the school premises from vagrants possibly using the school’s exterior walls as support for new structures or scaling it to access the property. She also expressed frustration with authorities’ apparent lacklustre and delayed response to expelling the vagrants, a task the school’s facilities manager was apparently forced to do three times the day after the incident.
“Inspector Waterboer promised that Law Enforcement would remove the vagrants from our external walls,” Coetzee said on Thursday morning (7 December).
“Despite [the facilities manager] staying at the school all day, no-one has arrived to remove the threat to our school premises.”
She further claimed that on her arrival at school Thursday morning, basic structures were placed against the walls at the entrance gate with no Law Enforcement officers in sight.
Coetzee emphasised having reported further criminal incidents stemming from the homelessness situation on the school’s doorstep, to police in recent weeks. Among these are drug dealing, prostitution, knife fights and other acts of violence between squatters reported to station management without resolution – a matter reported on when the school sustained extensive damage during the winter floods (“Flooding wreaking havoc”, DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, 14 June).
City departments also seemed to have failed heeding the call of the VPNW, which expressed its concern over the illegal squatters back in April. The area is becoming a breeding ground for crime, with reports of theft and vandalism commonplace, the possible spread of disease, presence of hazardous materials and activities posing a threat to the river and its ecosystem, followed by an appeal to action their removal.
Coetzee pleaded: “With the school due to close the situation places the learners and school premises at significant risk during the holidays. We have no idea what we will come back to if this is not addressed immediately.”
A feedback report compiled by Inspector Gordon Waterboer following the fatal fire stated more than 37 homeless people were affected and 19 makeshift structures burnt down. Waterboer said only six out of 16 vagrants who were approached by representatives of the community organisation Itemba Circle of Hope accepted assistance offered to them.
Placement quest for homeless
The organisation visited the area to conduct a needs analysis for social intervention. While the long-term plan is to help get the squatters off the streets by securing placement or reuniting them with family, and get them documented, Itemba Circle of Hope initiated a drive for donations of food, clothing and blankets in the interim.
“We know there are people wanting change, but uncertain of the help available by organisations such as Itemba,” the organisation’s Susie Pedro said. “Some community members are under the impression these squatters don’t want assistance, but we have realised some of them simply need a helping hand.”
She further substantiated her sentiment with the expected placement of two of the Wrong Turn squatters, a young man expected to be reunited with family, who were initially unaware of his living situation but agreed to open their hearts and Nomzamo home up to him, and a 64-year-old man, who is simply in need of an ID to apply for a government pension and will be taken up by a place of safety.
DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette’s extensive enquiry to the City was partially responded to by Friday (8 December). Questions asked and left unanswered, among others, were: What is the long-term solution to the safety concerns and threats faced by the school, leasing the property from the City, and why does it seem that no progress has been made in finding a solution or prioritising the school’s safety and security, especially since the problem was highlighted during recent floodings earlier this year and have now also posed fire hazards?
As for why the squatters are not removed from the area and numbers merely bumped up as the removal of vagrants at De Beers Park and other areas simply resulted in the evictees being relocated to Wrong Turn, which seems like one problem feeding the other, and what solution the City is proposing to rid the community of the problem, the City stated: “The City’s Informal Settlements Management (ISM) Department is aware of the informal structures near the Lourens River in Somerset West.
“The City’s ISM is carrying out an assessment of the area and will engage with the informal settlement residents this week, to offer assistance to the residents where it is possible to do so. Once all assessments and surveys are completed, the City’s ISM will determine the way forward.”
