Some residents of the Usindiso Building took matters into their own hands with trying to find ways to clean and improve security at the building after the building started to attract criminals and other unsavoury characters.
This was the testimony of witness number 21 into the Commission of Inquiry into the Marshalltown Fire, Maditaba Ramathoso, originally from Lesotho, who on Wednesday told the chairperson of the commission, Justice Sisi Khampepe, her version of events and circumstances at the Usindiso Building.
“As already stated, there was crime and criminals started getting into the building, and some of those who were robbed also began coming into the building. No one from the City of Joburg knew of our conditions and there was no attempt to alert the city officials. However, as residents, to secure ourselves, we tried to to have meetings to find ways to keep the building clean and to improve security and bought gates and locks to ensure this,” she said.
On the day of the fire, Ramathoso, who lost a loved one, said firefighters were ill-equipped to deal with the fire as their vehicles had no water, while other vehicles ran out of water.
“I left as I could not stand the situation I was seeing. People could have been saved and a lot of damage could have been avoided had they been equipped. Even though I did not get injured, I was emotionally injured due to what happened and lost my job due to the fire,” she said.
She said when she first got to the buildings, the building was fairly clean, with some of the tenants being Malawians, and as time went on, Tanzanian nationals started arriving and a shop was opened during this time and the conditions started deteriorating, with smokers beginning to smoke within the building.
“People started smoking there and this affected me and my little child as the smoke will come out of their room into mine. This smoking and drinking started to affect our safety and the situation started to get worse when people who were being robbed began to enter this building.”
Another witness whose testimony was read through a statement, is Musa Hamisi, from Tanzania, who told the commission that he lost his eight-months-pregnant girlfriend in the disaster and her body was never found.
He said he had gone to bed earlier than his girlfriend, Londiwe, who was on her phone. He indicated that he woke up to screams from people warning about a fire in the building.
“There was smoke in the room as the door was opened. Londiwe had gone to the toilet. I found her in the toilet – already dead – collapsed on the floor. I could not find her pulse. I knew she was dead,” said Hamisi.
The inquiry continues.
The Star