WeeklySA_AdminHOUSING CRISIS: A pre-dawn blaze in a KwaZulu-Natal informal settlement has claimed the lives of five children from one family, exposing once again the deadly risks faced by millions living in South Africa’s shack communities…
By Nicholas Mwangi
Grief and anger have engulfed the shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo after a devastating shack fire claimed the lives of five children from the same family at the Ekuphumuleni informal settlement near Shakas Head on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast.
In a statement released last weekend, the movement confirmed that the fire broke out at around 3:00 am, rapidly spreading through the densely packed settlement before residents could rescue the trapped children.
“The community tried to stop the fire and rescue the children but to no avail. The fire was too strong,” the movement said, describing the tragedy as “beyond words”. The incident has plunged the community into mourning and comes barely a week after the burial of activist Zweli “Khabazela” Mkhize, a leader within the movement who was recently killed, further deepening a sense of loss within the organisation.
Being poor in South Africa too often means living one accident
away from tragedy— where a single spark can turn a home
into a death trap…
Abahlali baseMjondolo said the disaster highlights the dangers faced by millions of South Africans living in informal settlements where overcrowding, flammable building materials and limited access to emergency services increase the risk of fatal fires.
“For twenty years we have been struggling to get the crisis of regular fires in shack settlements recognised as a crisis,” the movement said in its statement. “But our lives do not count to this society and so we have been left to burn.” The movement argues that the tragedy reflects deeper structural challenges facing the urban poor, including the lack of adequate housing, basic services and secure tenure. The children who died in the fire were identified as Asamkele Somntsewu (19), Sonwabise Noyila (14), Amila Menemene (4), and one-year-old twins Sokhula and Solulele Somntsewu. Two other family members — Ntombovuyo Menemene and Yana Menemene — were injured in the fire and remain in hospital.
According to the movement, leaders rushed to the settlement after receiving news of the blaze, where community members gathered for prayers in solidarity with the grieving family.
Speaking in the aftermath of the tragedy, Abahlali baseMjondolo general secretary Thapelo Mohapi said the parents of the children are receiving counselling while the cause of the fire remains unknown.
“At this stage we do not know what started the fire,” he said. “But what we do know is that people continue to live under systemic conditions of injustice — no services, no water, no access roads and shacks built of wood.”
The movement also raised concerns about ongoing eviction pressures in the Shakas Head area, which it says place vulnerable communities under further strain.
As investigations into the cause of the fire continue, the tragedy has renewed calls for urgent government intervention to address living conditions in informal settlements and prevent further loss of life.
“Our children are as precious and beautiful as all other children,” the movement said. “We will fight with all that we have for their future.” – People’s Despatch
