THE woman who allegedly set a hijacked building on fire in the inner city of Joburg on Sunday morning, 21 January has been arrested.
Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda announced this on Monday, 22 January while briefing the media outside the engulfed building on Commissioner and Nugget streets.
On Sunday, Emergency Management Services reported that two people jumped from the second floor while three others were rescued from the balcony of the two-storey building.
Two people were killed and four others were injured. One of the victims was confirmed to be Sizwe Cele (35).
On Sunday 21 January a hijacked building on Commissioner Street and Nugget Street caught fire. Two people were killed. It has been alleged that the fire was a result of quarrel between a couple who also stayed in the building. @dailysunsa pic.twitter.com/464xkRDl8N
— Zandile Ethel Khumalo (@Ethel_Khumalo) January 22, 2024
It was alleged that the fire was the result of a quarrel between a couple who lived in the building.
Addressing the media, Gwamanda said at least 109 households were affected by the fire and those who were affected have been relocated to a sports ground in Joburg.
"As the City of Joburg we have taken it upon ourselves to get our service delivery initiatives to provide a safe space for those who have been affected by the incident.
"They've been moved to a sports ground in Joburg where there are 10 ablution facilities, as well as water tankers to ensure the environment is conducive for the victims to be accommodated there," said Gwamanda.
He said to date, they've identified 28 Lesotho foreign nationals, four Tanzanians and two Zimbabweans who were affected by the fire.
Ward 124 Councillor Mongameli Mnayameni said more than 60% of foreign nationals lived in the two-storey hijacked building.
"We are bound by our laws, and we are a country that does not break its own laws after making them. As a result, we need to provide temporary accommodation. We do this so we can, in the meantime, engage with Home Affairs so that after the vetting process happens to establish which country they are from, they will be deported.
"If we do not do this process, we will be on the wrong side of human rights lawyers who will argue that we infringed human rights," he said.
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This is not the first hijacked building in the inner city to catch on fire.
In August 2023, Usindiso Shelter, a hijacked building in Marshalltown caught on fire, killing more than 70 people, injuring 60 and leaving many homeless.
Gwamanda said they are in the process of eradicating hijacked buildings in the city and to date, the city is investigating 188 cases of hijacked buildings.
"Of those cases, 143 of them are in the inner city and have been taken to the legal department. About 109 are privately owned by the provincial government and 14 belong to the city. We have obtained nine successful court orders against the hijacked buildings," he said.
Gauteng police spokeswoman Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said a 30-year-old woman was arrested and is expected to appear before the Joburg Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 23 January on charges of arson, murder and attempted murder.
