By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
New Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero confirmed an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the fire at the three-storey structure, located in Jeppestown.
Four people were killed in the incident, and three others were seriously injured.
Morero revealed the condemned building was privately-owned by a family called Seef.
“We should admit this is a bigger crisis that requires all of us, both government and private sector. We have been engaging provincial and national government about these matters to find a sustainable solution. One of the biggest challenges is those buildings that are constantly being hijacked by criminal syndicates which require us to also get law enforcement and there are investigations ongoing. But I must say we need a drastic solution.”
The premises has been handed over to the police for further investigation.
Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi says they are investigating the cause of the fire, but preliminary indications are that the fire was started by illegal connections.
“We received a call early hours of this morning that there is a building which is on fire at the corner of Jani and Jullies street in Jeppestown. Yes on arrival we found the building well alight, we started evacuating the residents who were inside the building. After that while we were conducting our firefighting operations here, there were people who came out of the building and were injured, they also suffered some smoke inhalation.
In a statement on Sunday evening, City Power said it had removed more than 4,000kg of aerial bundled cables worth R120,000 and was continuing with the removal of additional cables. Its assessment of the area was that most properties in the area were factories and businesses suspected to have been hijacked, with services such as water and electricity unlawfully connected.
“City Power has discovered that the burnt property, which is privately owned, has no registered electricity account. It has therefore been established that the power supply to that building was illegally connected from at least two load centres,” said spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
Mangena said City Power had dealt with more than 120 cases of illegal connections across Johannesburg, with multiple operations undertaken across the inner city. He said in August alone, they had conducted two cut-off operations in Jeppestown, the area where the three-storey building burnt.
The latest fire comes against a backdrop of an anticipated plan by the City of Johannesburg to deal with abandoned or “hijacked” buildings in the aftermath of the Usindiso fire, which claimed 76 lives on August 31, 2023.
Meanwhile Morero has told the ANC’s REC Lekgotla that the city has no option but to consider employing properly documented foreign nationals as JMPD officers.
Fullview learnt that the Lekgotla rejected his proposal and he accepted the decision not to entertain this proposal further.
ANC Gauteng provincial leader Panyaza Lesufi said the party remain committed to ensure that our law enforcement agencies are appropriately trained to tackle challenges created by crime.