Athini Sikhunyana and her family are facing a daunting task of finding wood and corrugated iron sheets to rebuild their home in Granville informal settlement in Alexandra.

Sikhunyana, 20, was in her three-room shack preparing her siblings to go to the mall when she heard people screaming on Thursday that there was a fire.

Her family is among the 900 people who have been displaced by the blaze that ripped through the settlement last week.

Sikhunyana and her siblings were preparing to go shopping for Christmas clothes. But now the money will be used to buy material to try and rebuild their shack.

"I am heartbroken because my sisters might not get new clothes for Christmas. I was bathing them so we could go buy clothes when the fire started. Everything was destroyed in the fire. My father works piece jobs. The money he saved for the children's clothes will now help rebuild our home," she said.

Sikhunyana's family had already started to rebuild their home yesterday.

"We used the damaged material and my parents are making a plan to get more material. We have been sleeping in the corner where they build because we feel safer when we are in one place," she said.

"Since Thursday we distributed food parcels and blankets. We have offered hot meals, blanks, mattresses and hygiene items. We will continue to provide hot meals and tomorrow we will help people rebuild. We appeal to those who can donate corrugated iron, clothes and food to come forward," she said.

Nana Radebe of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services said the response was overwhelming.

"Companies like Pick n Pay and organisations [like] Al Madad were involved," she said. Gauteng police said an inquiry into the cause of fire and a murder case have been opened. Residents attacked a man they blamed for the blaze.

The man later died in hospital.