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Alex fire victims want homes for Christmas

Alex residents with their possessions outside burned shacks.
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Shack dwellers in Alexandra north of Johannesburg have a simple wish for this festive season… to have their own homes.

A raging fire tore through a shack settlement in the township on 6 December, leaving 2 000 people homeless. The residents say they have lost everything including clothing, food and identity documents.

The community has welcomed Christmas gifts provided by church groups.

“We would like to see ourselves living on our own homes, because life in the shacks is not pleasant. I feel happy because they gave us many items we’ve lost, and they’ve given food so we are happy. They’re taking us to getting our IDs and birth certificates as they were lost in the fire. It means a lot to us because we lost a lot. We had prepared for Christmas to buy clothes for our children to wear on Christmas. Everything burned in the shacks.”

Church leaders have pleaded with South Africans to assist the victims of the fire.

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about love, is about showing love, is about reaching to someone; that’s why we are here as a church. We are also giving them material… the ready-made shacks – 73 of them we have given the material.”

 

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