The informal settlement community of Mzamomhle in East London, Eastern Cape, has started to piece their lives together after a fire ripped through it on Sunday.
More than 50 dwellings were razed. At least 160 people are directly affected.
The cause of the blaze is being investigated. Some of the displaced residents were moved to a community hall.
Community leader Sibongile Thunywa says, “We tried stopping the fire from spreading but our efforts were in vain. It kept on spreading. We tried to remove what we could. We almost lost everything.”
The spokesperson for the Buffalo City Metro Samkelo Ngwenya says they have started the processes to assist the victims.
“We have to issue an application so that we access temporal so that we can access temporal shelters and seeing how we can accommodate be it short-term housing or long-term housing. So the application is now underway.”
