The Johannesburg Fire

On August 31st, at around one a.m., a fire broke out and ripped through a run-down five-story building in Johannesburg, South Africa, killing at least seventy-six people, including twelve children. The building was called Usindisco, and housed over two hundred people; many of whom were immigrants who came to Johannesburg looking for work and better opportunities. The building was known as a “hijacked” building, which means that criminal syndicates had overtaken the building when it was unused and abandoned, taking it for themselves and renting to poor people who had little other choice of housing opportunities.

People watch emergency services at the scene of the deadly blaze [Theme Hadebe/AP]

Usindisco had terrible living conditions. Families lived in shacks in the crowded hallways and levels, and crammed into rooms. There was no trash pick-up system, and so trash was piled outside the entrance of the building. Thievery was rampant inside the building, and it was too dangerous for someone living there to enter after dark. There were no bathrooms, and no power was available. People used candles to warm themselves, fully aware that it was a dangerous fire hazard, having no other choice to keep themselves warm during cold nights. It is thought that one of these candles, or one of the dangerous illegally laid electricity wires possibly caused the fire.

On the night of August 31st, the fire broke out on the ground level and quickly traveled to the rest of the building. People crammed entrances to escape, but as there were only a few exits, many got trapped. There were no fire escapes, and one of the main security gates was closed, making it difficult for residents to escape. Witnesses and news media reported horrendous scenes in the early hours of the morning after the fire as people on the building’s upper floors jumped out of windows to escape the flames.

By the time the sun rose, the fire had been put out by firefighters, and the death toll kept climbing. Dozens of bodies recovered by firefighters were laid out on a side road outside the apartment block, some in body bags, others covered in silver sheets or blankets after the body bags ran out. Over eighty people were injured, and scores have been left homeless.

Bodies of victims of a deadly blaze in downtown Johannesburg are laid out on a nearby street on August 31, 2023 [Jerome Delay/AP]

This terrible tragedy has brought attention to Johanasburg’s housing inequality, as the city that used to be seen as a beacon of hope for the country is now struggling with an unstable government, widespread power outages, public infrastructure falling into disrepair, and lawlessness that created the conditions for this tragedy.

There are fifty-seven hijacked buildings like Usindisco that are known to authorities, and estimated way more than that in reality. When wealthy businesses moved out of the inner city to more affluent suburbs, criminal organizations took buildings that were left empty and rented them out illegally. They quickly became dilapidated centers of drug crime and other disorder.

Residents from the scene of a deadly blaze sit near the building they lived in as rescue workers carry out their operations [Theme Hadebe/AP]

With terrible, inhumane living conditions, these buildings are a testament to the need for better and equal housing conditions for the lower-income people of Johannesburg. On the morning after the fire, President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the site of the tragedy and said, “It’s a wake-up call for us to begin to address the situation of housing in the inner city.” However, he did not make mentions of any specific steps the government would take.

Sources:

Mabasa, Nkateko. “‘The Fire Ruined Everything’: Lives, Livelihoods Lost in Johannesburg Blaze.” Poverty and Development | Al Jazeera, 31 Aug. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/8/31/the-fire-ruined-everything-lives-livelihoods-lost-in-johannesburg-blaze.

Imray, Gerald, and Mogomotsi Magome. “At Least 74 Are Dead, Many of Them Homeless, as Fire Rips Through a Rundown Building in South Africa | AP News.” AP News, 31 Aug. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fire-johannesburg-south-africa-dead-a365fc66541584e61ec5cd3e7b375e67

Reuters. “Johannesburg Fire: What Are ‘hijacked Buildings’ and Why Are They Dangerous?” Reuters, 31 Aug. 2023, www.reuters.com/world/africa/what-are-johannesburgs-hijacked-buildings-why-do-people-live-there-2023-08-31.

“More Than 70 Killed in Fire in South Africa’s Johannesburg.” News | Al Jazeera, 31 Aug. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/31/at-least-18-reported-killed-in-fire-in-south-africas-johannesburg.

Granville, By Samantha. “Johannesburg Fire: Hijacks and Death Traps in a Crumbling South African City Centre.” BBC News, 2 Sept. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66695688.

Tavernise, Sabrina, et al. “A Tragic Fire and Broken Promises in South Africa.” The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/09/08/podcasts/the-daily/johannesburg-fires.html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar®ion=header&pgtype=Article.

Image sources:

Granville, By Samantha. “Johannesburg Fire: Hijacks and Death Traps in a Crumbling South African City Centre.” BBC News, 2 Sept. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66695688.

The Johannesburg Fire

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