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Usindiso building ‘arsonist’ back in court!

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A fire at this building claimed 77 lives. Photo by Morapedi Mashashe
A fire at this building claimed 77 lives. Photo by Morapedi Mashashe

THE case against the alleged Usindiso building arsonist, Sithembiso Mdlalose, will resume in the Joburg Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 6 March. 

Previously, in February, when he appeared before the court, his matter was postponed for profiling and verification of the accused. 

Sithembiso is facing 76 charges of murder, 86 of attempted murder and arson. 

He was arrested after he confessed to being the one who set the building on fire in August 2023, which claimed the lives of 77 people, left many people displaced and several others injured. 

To date, the Daily Sun has heard from the commission of inquiry into Usindiso how the building, once used as a shelter for women and children, was abandoned by the ministries and turned into a hijacked building. 

The building, deemed dangerous as it harboured criminals, was also classified as unsuitable for human habitation. 

Previously, Daily Sun reported how former Usindiso Ministries director Glyn Weldschidt revealed that the building was "disruptive" even before the tragedy that claimed the lives of 77 people. 

This was around the time when the building still served as a shelter for abused women and children, where rehabilitation and social services were offered for 12 months. 

ALSO READ: Hostage-taker in court after police shooting!

But when four women refused to leave the shelter after their rehabilitation programme was completed, Weldschidt said they had become disruptive to the programmes and were bullying the other women.  

Meanwhile, a testimony from Captain Lesiba Mokubela, attached to the South African Police Services' Chemistry Section, Fire Investigation Subsection at the forensic science laboratory, revealed possible causes of the deadly blaze.  

According to Mokubela, accidental causes included, among other things, artificial heating, including two plates or paraffin stoves and burnt candle lamps.  

They could not be proven or disproven as fluorescent light holders and lighting, which could be excluded as the cause of the fire as they were either not in use or available.  

Keeping accidental causes as a possibility the cause, Mokubela also added that incendiary fire causes could not be excluded as the possible causes of the fire. 

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