Fire brings heartbreak for shack dwellers

Over the years, Elizabeth Moeng and her children had been buying furniture with the hope that one day they would be moved from an informal settlement into an RDP house and they could build a home for themselves.

But on Friday, all their belongings went up in smoke after a fire gutted dozens of shacks at Koos De La Rey informal settlement in Pretoria North.

The settlement  is situated next to a block of flats, which is where the fire started.

More than 350 people have been displaced and are now being accommodated in a hall.

Moeng said she had been living in the informal settlement for more than two decades with her sons aged 30 and 24.

“I have struggled all my life. Growing up, I never had a place called home but I had envisioned that one day, me and my children  would get a decent home that has clean running water and electricity. A place we would call home,” she said.

Crying inconsolably, Moeng described the incident as a major setback that she would not forget or overcome.

“I have worked for more than 30 years as a domestic worker washing other people’s clothes, and when I used to get money I would at least use half of the money to buy food and toiletries and the rest I would layby some furniture as I waited for the day the government would move us to RDP houses as promised. The house would be fully furnished and have a homely touch that would make my children feel at home. But now, all that is gone,” she said.

“Who would hire a 55-year-old? No one will and that breaks my heart because I will never be able to replace the little things that I had – the fridge, couch and other valuables.”

She said she had also lost Christmas clothes that she had bought for her grandchildren.

“The clothes that took me the whole year to buy got burned in just a few seconds. Now my grandkids will not have Christmas clothes. I also lost my ID and Bible,” Moeng said.

Another resident, Johanna Masoga, said: “Everyone at home depends on me, and on the day of the fire I had left R1,000 that I wanted to send to my family in Limpopo so they can buy some food for Christmas. Now that the money was engulfed by the fire, it means my family will starve,” she said.

The families have been given food, mattresses and some toiletries.

The City of Tshwane said it was investigating the cause of the fire.

newsdesk@sowetan.co.za