GAUTENG Premier Panyaza Lesufi has appointed an inquiry committee into the Joburg CBD fire that killed at least 74 people and left more than 50 injured.
Lesufi said they will be working closely with Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola to investigate the prevalence of hijacked buildings in the city while holding someone accountable for the incident and further revealing the real course of the fire.
At least 74 people died, and 52 others were injured when a fire broke out in a building in the Joburg CBD on Thursday morning, 31 August. The fire destroyed a five-storey building on the corner of Albert and Delvers streets, known as the Usindiso shelter for abused women and children.
The City of Joburg confirmed that the building belonged to it but was leased to a non-profit organisation called the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri).
Although the city has tried to evict the illegal occupants, it claims that its attempts have been unsuccessful.
Seri has since rubbished this, accusing the city of not taking responsibility for the inner-city housing crisis.
Following a string of disasters in the province, Lesufi said the provincial government was working with the national government and local authorities to improve the province's ability to respond to and manage disasters.
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"We do not want to witness or grow accustomed to these events, and this is among the worst disasters the province has experienced in recent times. In this regard, I intend to institute a Committee of Inquiry to investigate this deadly inferno," Lesufi said.
With several parties playing the blame game and no one taking responsibility for the hijacked building issue that has now led to a tragedy, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation said with the city's by-laws being non-existent, the building would have never been a subject of inspection.
"To blame organisations like Seri being responsible for this incident is beyond shocking. Civil society organisations did not rule on matters before the courts. The judiciary did.
"Perhaps a closer reading of the judgments will help the politicians who are now trying to escape responsibility by blaming NGOs for their failures.
"If the legislation has flaws, the power to change it does not lie with the NGOs," said Zusipe Batyi, a member of the foundation.
Zusipe said the housing crisis continues to be a growing problem without a plan to solve the problem.
"This crisis, coupled with a mismanaged and dysfunctional city, has left building owners at the mercy of building hijackers and other criminal syndicates.
"When politicians are caught up in power struggles over who should run the city and in fractured coalitions that are not able to focus on effective governance and management of the city, we have such tragedies as the result," Zusipe said.
