Taiwan fire leaves misery in its wake
Khayelitsha’s Taiwan shanty town is reeling following the Sunday evening fire that left scores homeless.
More than 50 firefighters from several fire stations battled to contain the blaze, which was extinguished just after 9pm, according to City Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse.
No injuries had been reported, and the cause of the fire had yet to be determined, he said, but it had destroyed more than 40 shacks that had been home to some 90 people.
When Vukani visited the area on Monday morning, residents were clearing charred debris while others stood motionless and seemed worried about how they were going to rebuild their homes.
Kholelwa Nxiba said that by the time she had stepped outside to investigate the fire had already been well under way, fanned by strong winds, and she had had little time to save any of her belongings before the flames had consumed the three-room shack, where she had lived with her sister and their six children.
Her first priority, she said, had been to get the children to safety.
Resting on an empty crate, she said: ”I’m sitting exactly where my shack was literally about eight hours ago, and yet now this space is covered with charred material, and I have not slightest idea where to begin to rebuild it.
“We all stayed up because we had nowhere to go, and everyone opted to stay here putting our lives in danger of being robbed by criminals, but we had no choice.
“We hope that the City will help us with building material so that they can meet us halfway. But we are just glad that no one was injured or died.”
Anelisa Hlompho said she too had been unable to save anything from the shack she had shared with her mother and two sister before it had been destroyed, but she was grateful no-one in her family had been hurt.
Ward councillor Khayalethu Khama said the settlement was plagued by fires during summer and the festive season. He added that several people had lost their homes to a fire in the same area two weeks earlier.
