IN the early hours of Sunday morning, 3 December, a fire broke out at the School Site squatter camp in Philippi, Cape Town.
More than 100 shacks burnt down to ashes.
About 236 adults and 95 children were left without shelter and belongings.
One of the affected people, Piet Junkies, said it's going to take them a long time to recover their losses.
“We can’t take this anymore. It's already festive time. Where are we going to get money to rebuild? Everything that we were putting together for Christmas is gone,” he said.
The residents said no one was injured or died in the fire.
“The fire and rescue team were called but it took them almost seven hours to put out the fire as there was no space to move around the shacks. The community tried by all means to put out the fire, but it was too strong," said one resident.
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Another resident said the fire was intense.
“I'm grateful that there was no wind otherwise the whole School Site would have burnt down to ashes."
The fire broke out a few months after the community of ward 34 marched to the housing department to seek better shelter as they said it's been far too long staying in bad conditions.
Ward 34 councillor Melikhaya Gadeni thanked Sassa, Gift of the Givers, Phillipi Village, the police, and many other organisations still assisting the people at the squatter camp.
City Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse said: “About 4.30am on 3 December, an alert was received of informal structures burning in Bristone Road Philippi.
"Fourteen firefighting engines went to the scene and the city's management team was activated. By 8.45 am the blaze was extinguished. The cause is undetermined, and no injuries or fatalities were reported.”
Charlotte Powel, spokeswoman for Disaster Risk Management, said their NGO partners and Sassa have been asked to provide humanitarian relief.
