'I have not recovered': Joburg CBD fire survivor lost daughter to blaze in 2020

A woman who lost her daughter in a fire incident three years ago is grateful to have been able to save her family when their home caught fire in a disaster that left 77 people dead in Joburg last week.

Miriam George-Phiri, who is originally from Malawi, is one of the survivors of the fire that broke out in the Joburg CBD on last Thursday . Like many who were left homeless, George-Phiri is placed with her children at Hofland Park Recreation Centre in Bez Valley, after losing everything in the fire.

The centre has two big structures and is secured with a security guard at the gate. Various organisations and churches were there to offer assistance, including Gift of the Givers and Doctors Without Borders, which brought nurses and medication for those who were injured. 

Young boys kept themselves busy by playing soccer while adults sat in the yard. Home affairs officials who normally do not work on Sunday were on duty, helping people to apply for new passports and IDs. Bundles of donated clothes were placed in front of the two building structures.

George-Phiri, 43, who is a mother of three, said the fire incident triggered in her mind an incident that happened in 2020, where a building between Elloff and Von Brandis streets caught fire and she lost her daughter. She lived on the fourth floor of the building at the time.

“Thursday's fire triggered the 2020 incident when my daughter, who was visiting a relative in the Joburg city, died. In trying to save the child, the person threw my daughter out of the balcony, and she sustained serious injuries which led to her death. The relative also sustained injuries but survived. I have not recovered from that incident.”

About last week's incident, George-Phiri said she was watching TV when she heard noise outside.

“I opened the door and there was fire coming from the ground floor. I went back to get my children. While I was walking down the stairs, I realised that my four-year-old boy was not with me, and I went back inside. At that moment half of the building was already in a blaze. I used the other entrance and found him [her son] OK,” she said. 

As much as George-Phiri is happy to have a place to sleep and food to eat, she is worried about her three children who will go to school without uniforms. Her son is in pre-school, her daughter in grade 1, while the older one is in grade 2. 

“Since we moved here everything is OK. There is lots of food. But the problem is that we live in one place and come from different cultures. Some people make noise and smoke dagga. That is the only problem. As a result, I am moving out to a friend’s place who lives in town because my children must go to school tomorrow [today].

“I am going to speak to the school to allow them to wear their normal clothes until I have money to buy uniform. I survive by selling clothes in Woodmead and my stock burnt with everything in that room.”

Another resident, Funuell Magnus, also a vendor in the city, said he lost stock worth about R20,000 in the blaze.

“I make traditional-wear outfits and sell them in the streets of Johannesburg. I was staying on the third floor of the building, and I was able to jump from the balcony but I could not save my belongings,” he said.

“I lost everything including my phone, passport and wallet. I don’t know where to start to rebuild my life. I have a wife and two children in Malawi.”  

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