Good hearted residents from different organizations and political parties came to the rescue of the fire
victims of Mhlanga informal settlement in Mamelodi west, Tshwane by donating blankets, groceries,
nappies for kids, mattresses and even cooked a warm meal.
The donations come after a fire that engulfed the informal settlement in the early hours of the morning on 4 October 2023.
More than 20 shacks burned down to the ground and people lost their belongings including Identity cards, birth certificates, drivers’ licenses and clinic cards. The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage.
EFF sub region 5 coordinator King Bongani Ramontja, Ward Councillor Sizwe Tsiane, #notinmyname and Patch Up SA were amongst the donors.
EFF’s King Bongani Ramontja told Tshwane Talks that he received messages about the fire that broke down at Mhlanga informal settlement and as EFF they rushed to the scene and assessed the damage and later that evening they brought blankets, grocery and nappies for babies.
“We are helping out where we can and we call upon other organization and political parties to hold hands and work together to help the fire victims because they are our brothers and sisters,” Ramontja said.
He said they will engage with home affairs to come with their mobile vans and help residents who lost their documents in the fire and will also engage with management of the clinic to bring mobile clinic on board to assist those who lost card clinics.
“We are putting the lives of our people first and making sure that they are safe,” he said.
The following day #notinmyname brought soup and bread for breakfast, during lunch time Patch Up SA cooked lunch for fire victims.
Kagiso Mahlangu from Patch Up SA said as soon as they heard about the incident, they decided to cook lunch and donate clothes to fire victims.
Ward councilor Sizwe Tsiane said they brought mattresses and blankets for the Mhlanga fire victims.
Tsiane said he received calls in the early hours of the morning that shacks were on fire and he rushed to the scene and found that 20 out of more than 200 shacks burned and two people were treated for smoke inhalation.
[caption id="attachment_3294" align="alignnone" width="2560"]
ward councilor Sizwe Tsiane handing out matress to fire victims in Mhlanga informal settlement in Mamelodi west Tshwane photo by Dimakatso Modipa
“We have relocated people of Mhlanga for the last 10 years but after the relocation people come and erect shacks again.
“We call upon the DA led municipality to speed up the relocation plan to take people to a safer place,” he said.
Victim Josephina Mtshweni (41) mother of three said she lost everything in the fire including children’s school uniform, books, clothes and furniture’s and they could not save anything because they were fighting to save their lives.
They only left with the clothes they are wearing.
“I’m happy to get donation from all different stakeholders and I wish God could grant them more to help others like us,” Mtshweni said.