By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, says her department cannot be held accountable for the deaths and injuries caused by the fire at Usindiso for Women and Children.
Zulu said, the building does not belong to the social development department”.
But she added that the government will take responsibility for the victims.
“The responsibility that we are going to take as government, especially at the provincially and national level, is to look after the people that were in this building, find out where they are.
The building was engulfed by flames in the early hours of Thursday leaving at least over 70 people dead and 43 more injured in Joburg CBD.
Zulu said their responsibility now was to look after the people who were affected and ensure that the government lent a hand in their recovery. “What is important for the department is to deal with the post-traumatic stress of what has happened to these people,” she said.
She also said apartheid must take some of the blame for creating the conditions that force people to live in abandoned or hijacked buildings.
“Unfortunately for us, whether we like it or not, this is the result of apartheid that kept people under such conditions and we are expected to have changed those conditions within 30 years, we must take responsibility when we have to.
“What is important is that we must move with our people. Our people must also have an appreciation that when there is somebody that is taking rent from you and not bothered by the state of affairs is a very big problem.”
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has set up a committee of inquiry to investigate the devastating fire in Johannesburg CBD.
Lesufi said he will work closely with Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola in establishing the committee.
The premier said the province has over the last few years experienced a number of incidents and they wanted to respond quicker to these cases.
He said they were working with all spheres of government to respond to disasters.
Meanwhile city of Johannesburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele urged undocumented foreign nationals who were caught up in the deadly Marshalltown blaze to seek assistance from the city.
She said she was aware of one incident in which a Tanzanian national refused treatment at Helen Joseph Hospital.
“We started off with visiting the Helen Joseph Hospital. There is one resident who refused treatment because he is a foreign national. He actually ran away. We are concerned about that. We are still calling on foreign nationals who need attention, whether it’s shelter or medical care, to come forth. We are not looking at documentation. We are looking at the humanity crisis,” she said.