By Everson Luhanga
This building owned by the Johannesburg Property Company was once a shelter and home for abused women and children.
But today, it is the scene of a disaster where 73 people including children have died.
It was a government building that used to shelter the abused, but in 2017 the government abandoned it, leaving unknown people to occupy it.
In 2019 men started moving in.
Hundreds of people occupied the rooms in the five-storey building, some even erected shacks inside the structure.
Afikile Madiya who used to stay in the building between 2016 and 2021 said people used cardboard to separate rooms.
Afikile claimed that there had already been three other fires, the first in 2019, the second in 2020 and the third late in 2021.
She said in 2019 the municipality came and disconnected power in October. That was when occupants of the building started connecting electricity illegally.
The men who first occupied the building came from other buildings around the area and started bringing in their families and friends.
But then, they found an opportunity to rent out the rooms to foreign nationals who were desperate for accommodation.
Afikile said the self-proclaimed landlords started collecting money. They charged between R500 to R3,000 depending on the room.
Afikile told Scrolla.Africa that many of the rooms are shared by five people.
“People were living like sardines. Some rooms had no beds. They had mattresses on the floor to allow for more people.”
She said besides the previous fire incidents that happened, there had also been other deaths in the same building, not related to the fires however.
Several political figures from provincial and national governments visited the site after Thursday’s tragedy.
Opposition leaders took a swipe at the ruling ANC for letting the once glittering city of gold become dilapidated.
Pictured above: The government signage on the building
Image source: Everson Luhanga
