The City of Cape Town said more than 800 people have been affected after over 200 shacks were completely destroyed in the blaze on Sunday.
Imizamo Yethu residents are continuing to rebuild their homes after a devastating fire. Picture: Kaylynn Palm/EWN
CAPE TOWN – Residents of Imizamo Yethu continued to rebuild their homes after a devastating fire.
The City of Cape Town said more than 800 people had been affected after over 200 homes were completely destroyed in the blaze on Sunday.
The municipality has delivered building kits and a number of organisations have assisted.
It was a busy day for residents, as they continued to rebuild their homes, using new and old material.
#HoutBayfire #ImizamoYethu Imizamo Yethu residents are continuing to rebuild their homes after a devastating fire. KP pic.twitter.com/3BEWw1vjlr
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) September 9, 2020
Many said they had lost all their belongings and would have to start their lives from scratch.
Euphemia Jamce said she was devastated as it was the sixth time her house has caught alight since she moved to the informal settlement in 1995.
“What was I remembered was to get myself out of the house because I was collapsing, I didn’t have any energy and that was not the first time my house has caught fire. Everything has burnt down, all my clothes, my kids’ clothes, everything.”
Community leader Samkelo Krweqe is managing donations at the local community centre with a group of volunteers.
“I must thank God that we did not have a person who died in this fire, because to date, since 2017, we’ve lost about eight humans in the fires of Hout Bay. One person, as we speak, is lying in a mortuary because of a fire that occurred two weeks ago.”
He said residents were grateful for the donations and he encouraged more people to assist because the need was great.