By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A survivor of the deadly Marshalltown Fire, Kenneth Dube, has told the Usindiso Commission of Inquiry that police took bribes from alleged drug peddlers operating in the hijacked buildings.
The Commission of Inquiry into the Usindiso building fire, which claimed more than 70 lives last year, resumed in Johannesburg on Monday.
Last week, Lawrence Mdlalose was arrested after he told the commission that he started the fire when he set alight the body of a man he’d killed that same night – on instruction from an alleged drug lord he was working for.
Dube confirmed there were drugs sold at the building – and the police were aware of this issue.
“We used to have some videos that we took,” he said. “We reported this issue to the police officers, but they will come and take money from these drug lords.”
Dube also detailed his harrowing experience on the night of the fire that saw more than 80 people hospitalised.
Addressing the media following his visit to the injured, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said most survivors were treated for fractures after they had jumped to safety.
Dube told the commission that was sleeping in his room, which was on the first floor of the hijacked five-storey building, when he was woken by a loud explosion and heavy smoke accompanied by a raging flame.
He broke down when he recalled how he hung helplessly from one of the satellite dishes on the side of the building.
“When I went down I hit with my back then I stood up. Two guys came to me and told me that I am hurt. They tried to pull me, and that’s when I realised that I can’t walk. Then I fell down.”
Dube was taken to the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital where he learned that he had fractured his ribs and injured his spine.
Another witness, Mboza, disclosed that shacks were constructed within the building, authorised by a councillor and a prominent figure seeking rental fees. Foreign nationals were allegedly targeted for rent, with the councillor benefiting from these fees.
He said when he confronted the councillor to find out about the erection of shacks, he was told not bother himself as he has his own room.
“The shacks belonged to councillor x and the rooms to someone else. Only when you say you are South African, you never paid rent, but when you tell them you are a foreigner, you were asked to pay rent. Some of these were from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other countries… those who benefited from rental fees according to what was happening is the councillor. I asked him as a concerned resident how he would allow construction of shacks inside the building, but he told me to give other people a chance. As far as I am concerned, the councillor was one of the landlords as he allowed the construction of shacks and also collected rent, “Mboza told the commission.
Mboza revealed that after discovering the shacks were being rented out, some tenants also began subletting their rooms.
Another witness confirmed Mboza’s testimony that the building was owned by the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), adding that landlords preferred foreign nationals as tenants because they shared rooms and didn’t mind paying rent.
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Video Courtesy of GPG.