Eleven people were left displaced in Middelpos after a fire gutted their shacks.
According to Ward 1 councillor Siyabuelo Liwani the fire broke out in the early morning hours of Saturday 6 May in an informal settlement in Middelpos, Saldanha, at 265 Marikana. Though no injuries were reported the victims of the fire lost everything, including their clothes, food and other valuables. Ethne Lawrence, spokesperson for Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM) said its Fire and Rescue Services responded to the incident. “Subsequent investigation by members of the fire and rescue services could not reveal the cause of the fire,” she said.
According to Lawrence SBM is assisting households that are displaced and rendered homeless by such circumstances, subject to requests to the Western Cape Government’s Department of Infrastructure for funding support. “At this stage the municipality does not have emergency materials available and awaits the release of funds to an application, to procure materials for issuing to the affected households.”
She added the area where the fire occurred is an informal-settlement area and the municipality had recently completed the land use and environmental processes in the previous financial year to formalise the informal area.
“We are in process of appointing a consultant for engineering services to be installed in phases. Furthermore, is it planned to install electricity connection points to phase 1 of the current residents of Middelpos Joe Slovo, which Marikana forms part of.”
Liwani said the situation is still dire and victims needed help from the community. “We tried to get stakeholders and neighbours to assist on Saturday night so these people could lay their heads down,” he said. Jakobus Fourie (65), a victim of the fire said his home was burnt to the ground and he lost everything he had accumulated over the years. “I lost everything in less than 45 minutes. There is nothing left for me anymore; I own nothing. All I have left are the clothes on my back. It hurts that SBM can’t assist with a temporary place to sleep.”
With nowhere to go and not much food the victims appeal for help, whether by providing clothes, food, warm blankets or any other donation. Contact Liwani on 073 777 8866 to help.
