By Buziwe Nocuze
- Over 300 shacks burned down in Langa on 26 December, leaving thousands of people homeless.
- The government gave the residents building materials and free ID documents to help victims rebuild their lives.
Victims of a devastating fire in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa are receiving assistance to rebuild their homes after losing everything just after Christmas.
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane says they began distributing building materials on Tuesday.
“The whole material is available. You need to start in the morning, starting with young mothers, disabled people, and older people. Not that others are not important, but we are trying to prioritise the extra sensitive,” said Simelane.
The department also provided aid to fire victims in Gugulethu and Strand.
Simelane says the Langa fire highlights the need for a better plan. “The damage in Langa is huge. It’s calling on us, Human Settlements, the City of Cape Town, and others to relook into the strategy, as this is not sustainable.”
She advocates for building high-rise housing to move people out of crowded shack areas.
“The conditions that residents are living under are difficult; the municipal truck cannot even go there because of space,” she added.
Home Affairs Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza was present to issue new birth certificates and IDs on the spot.
“Losing an identity document is very stressful. Children didn’t have their Sassa card or birth certificate, ID, so we are happy that we managed to assist them,” said Nzuza.
Nokonwaba Fuba, a mother of four, expressed joy at receiving her children’s documents so quickly.
“It only took less than an hour to receive my kids’ birth certificates. I thought Home Affairs employees were lying when they told me that I would get them within a few minutes.”
The free service saved her over R500. “Each birth certificate costs R75, so I have four kids, plus R140 for my ID and the transport money. I am not working; I was still trying to figure out how I was going to do this,” said Fuba.
She is grateful they can now start rebuilding. “We can now rebuild our homes, even though some people have already started using the old material,” she added.
Pictured above: Minister of Human Settlements, Thembi Simelane, handed over building material to Joe Slovo fire victims in Langa, the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza, also handed over the birth certificates that were done on-site
Source: Buziwe Nocuze
