Joburg CBD fire survivors anxious to salvage personal belongings

Five days after the fire that ripped through the Usindiso building in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, some tenants are still camping in the vicinity to protect their salvageable belongings from being stolen. 

The area is cordoned off and monitored by police to prevent entry. Survivors who were evacuated last week have voiced their concern about being able to reclaim their possessions, including identity documents, clothes and furniture. 

Nothando Tshikitsha, 25, who visited the area on Tuesday, was carrying a plastic bag with school uniform items donated by her colleagues for her seven-year-old son.

“My son is traumatised. He keeps mentioning that my mom’s leg is broken and she’s not OK. He doesn’t stop. My mom is at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, but I’m worried about where will she go after being discharged. The shelter is not a good place for her because they’ve combined people from Usindiso with nyaopes [drug addicts] from a building who the city moved on the same day as the fire.”

Working as a waitress at a restaurant in Sandton, she said she was relieved her workplace gave her until next week to make alternative arrangements for accommodation.

She is sleeping at a friend’s place but comes to the building often to check if it is accessible so she can get her belongings.

“It’s so humiliating. My friend gives me food, water, clothes and a place to stay with my son. I feel like I’m a burden. It’s painful. If I could go inside I’d get some of my things and look for another place to stay.”

Thembokwakhe Nxumalo, 33, said she was disturbed by comments made by officials on Monday afternoon who told them they would only get their belongings after three months.

“They tell us to show them papers to prove we stayed there or the belongings, but how can we do that when everything is inside?

“We have nothing. Some of us came out naked or half-dressed, so how would we remember to take documents?” said Nxumalo.

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