Woman dies in Pietermaritzburg fire, 20 shacks destroyed — TimesLIVE
In Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, a woman died and 20 residential structures were destroyed during a fire at the Swapo informal settlement in the Copesville area. The fire occurred on Saturday. TimesLIVE reports, citing KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma.
The number of destroyed structures was clarified
According to Duma, the initial assessment indicated that 15 shacks had been destroyed. After verification, it was established that the fire affected 20 structures. The official also noted the Msunduzi Municipality's response to the fire.
Duma said the woman who died was a foreign national, as was her partner, who sustained burns. The child initially reported to have suffered burns is alive; according to the official, the child is also a foreign national.
Preliminary information about the fire
The official did not name the cause of the fire. At the same time, according to preliminary information, the blaze started in the shack where the woman who died lived.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Duma also claims that 19 foreign nationals lived in the destroyed shacks, while one other person was identified as a South African citizen. Authorities plan to verify the authenticity of that person's identity document with the Department of Home Affairs.
According to the official, a foreign national acted as a landlord and allegedly charged residents 250 rand per shack. He also said that the structures had illegal connections to the power grid.
The provincial government representative said foreign nationals would not be considered recipients of emergency housing assistance, building materials or RDP housing in accordance with government policy. He also said the housing department had lost more than 2 billion rand due to alleged fraud related to the sale and rental of RDP housing to foreign nationals.
