2023 Johannesburg building fire

On 31 August 2023 at around 01:30 SAST, a fire engulfed an illegally occupied, abandoned, government-owned building in Johannesburg, South Africa; 77 people were killed and 88 others were injured.^[1][2][3] It was one of the deadliest fires in South African history.^[4]

2023 Johannesburg building fire

Front and back of the building following the fire
[Interactive fullscreen map + nearby articles]
Date	31 August 2023; 3 months ago (2023-08-31)
Time	01:30 SAST
Location	80 Albert Street, Marshalltown, Johannesburg, South Africa
Coordinates	26°12′30″S 28°02′57″E / 26.2083°S 28.0491°E / -26.2083; 28.0491
Deaths	77
Non-fatal injuries	88

The building

The building, 80 Albert Street, was built in 1954 as the head office of Johannesburg's Non-European Affairs Department, serving as a Pass Office for enforcing pass laws controlling the movement of black people into Johannesburg under the apartheid system.^[5] From 1994, the building housed a women's shelter later called the Usindiso Women's Shelter.^[6] In 2019, a clinic housed in the building was relocated by the member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Health and Social Development, Mpho Phalatse, as the building was occupied by squatters and found to be unsafe.^[7][8]

The building is marked with a heritage plaque narrating its history.^[9]

Fire

The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning on 31 August 2023, in the Central Business District, at a five-storey abandoned building on the corner of Delvers and Albert Streets that is owned by the city government and was taken over by gangs.^[10] It was being illegally occupied by as many as 400^[11] impoverished people—many of them foreign nationals, economic migrants, and asylum seekers—all of whom were being charged rent by the gangs.^[10] The cause of the fire is not currently known. It spread through the building, trapping many people due to flimsy partitions and gates between makeshift rooms constructed by residents.^[11][12][13]

Many residents jumped from the windows of the building to escape, some of whom did not survive the jump.^[14] Firefighters found bodies piled up where they had died at a locked gate on the ground floor while trying to exit the burning building.^[15]

Aftermath

The fire brought attention to the hundreds of hijacked buildings in the Johannesburg CBD, typically overcrowded and unregulated and inhabited by impoverished and marginalised people including a large number of undocumented migrants to South Africa's economic hub of Johannesburg.^[16]

Some residents who survived the fire refused to board buses for relocation to emergency accommodation in community halls after the fire, fearing the relocation would be used by officials as an excuse for deportation, and being unwilling to leave behind the remains of their possessions in the burnt building.^[14]

Response

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the site of the tragedy on 31 August, calling it a "wake-up call".^[16] Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced an inquiry into the fire.^[17] While government officials blamed the crisis on NGOs, who prevented the previous attempts to evict occupiers from similar properties,^[18][19][20] NGOs and inner city property owners argued that it was the duty of the City of Johannesburg to maintain buildings, provide services and enforce safety regulations.^[21] South Africa's courts have consistently ruled that evictions cannot proceed unless alternative housing is provided under the provisions of the 1998 Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act.^[22][23] Following the fire, the City attempted to disconnect illegal electricity connections from similar hijacked buildings in the city, but was met with strong resistance from residents.^[24]

See also

• 2023 Hanoi building fire, another large residential fire two weeks later

References

1. Cocks, Tim; Plessis, Carien du (1 September 2023). "Sniffer dogs search for clues in ashes of deadly South African fire". Reuters. from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
2. Seeletsa, Molefe (1 September 2023). "'Most survivors broke their limbs,' says Phaahla as death toll increases in Joburg fire". The Citizen. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
3. McCain, Nicole (4 September 2023). "Joburg fire: Families of unidentifiable victims urged to come forward with DNA samples". News24. from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
4. Imray, Gerald; Magome, Mogomotsi (31 August 2023). "At least 74 are dead, many of them homeless, as fire rips through a rundown building in South Africa". Associated Press. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
5. Ball, James (11 November 2016). "80 Albert Street—The nerve centre for controlling black people's lives during the early stages of apartheid". The Heritage Portal. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
6. "Pass Office now place of shelter". Brand South Africa. 2 August 2007. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
7. "City of Joburg shuts down a clinic due to a compromised building infrastructure". City of Johannesburg. 2019. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
8. Dube, Lungile (29 January 2019). "MMC temporarily shuts down Albert Street Clinic". Alex News. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
9. "Pass Office 80 Albert Street". The Heritage Portal. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
10. Bartlett, Kate (1 September 2023). "With Johannesburg's building fire, the misery of gang-hijacked towers comes into focus". NPR. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
11. Allison, Simon (31 August 2023). "Johannesburg fire: survivors describe jumping from windows, as death toll rises to 74". The Guardian. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
12. Imray, Gerald; Magome, Mogomotsi (31 August 2023). "A building fire in Johannesburg kills at least 73 people, many of them homeless, authorities say". Associated Press. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
13. "Joburg inner city building fire claims at least 73 lives". Central News South Africa. 31 August 2023. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
14. Bhengu, Cebelihle; Pheto, Belinda; Nqunjana, Alfonso (1 September 2023). "'We don't know how to help them': Residents of burnt building refuse help for fear of deportation". News24. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
15. Patrick, Alex; Karrim, Azarrah; Cowan, Kyle (1 September 2023). "Deathtrap: Albert Street residents died trying to escape a building City officials 'condemned'". News24. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
16. Granville, Samantha (31 August 2023). "Johannesburg fire 'wake-up call', President Ramaphosa says". BBC News. from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
17. "Joburg Fire: Committee of Inquiry to be set up". eNCA. 1 September 2023. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
18. Mafata, Masego (31 August 2023). "NGOs respond to being blamed for Johannesburg fire". GroundUp. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
19. "City of Johannesburg's wake up call: fire at Usindiso Shelter for Women and Children". SERI. 31 August 2023. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
20. Njilo, Nonkululeko (31 August 2023). "City of Johannesburg points finger at NGOs and foreign nationals after deadly fire". Daily Maverick. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
21. Haffajee, Ferial (31 August 2023). "City of Joburg shuttered task team that should have cleaned up building in which 73 died". Daily Maverick. from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
22. Allison, Simon (1 September 2023). "Grief and anger after Johannesburg blaze that killed at least 74". The Guardian. from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
23. Granville, Samantha (2 September 2023). "Johannesburg fire: Hijacks and death traps in a crumbling South African city centre". BBC News. from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
24. "Residents of jacked buildings in show of power". IOL. 14 September 2023. from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.

Further reading

• Chutel, Lynsey; Gebrekidan, Selam; Eligon, John (10 November 2023). "Deadly Fire in Africa's Richest City Exposed a Secret in Plain Sight". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2023.

External links

 

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• South Africa fire: What are Johannesburg's hijacked buildings?—BBC News, 31 August 2023