Poor Joburg council response to devastating Mangolongolo shack fire
15 May 2016
I am disappointed at the poor response of the Johannesburg Council to the devastating fire that destroyed about 200 shacks on Friday morning at the Mangolongolo informal settlement in Denver in east Johannesburg.
I visited Mangolongolo this morning with DA Councillor Victor Penning and DA Ward 65 candidate Michael Mutiya, and we found that residents were not being provided with any building materials to rebuild their shacks.
This is their prime need, but the Council does not have a programme to provide building materials in good time, as happens in Cape Town where an emergency housing kit is provided within hours of a shack fire.
Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) has recorded 651 victims in need of assistance, including 134 children. They are providing blankets and some food, but people we spoke with said they only got bread and a small bit of soup.