Survivors of the Usindiso fire are still fighting a year later

After the tragic fire at 80 Albert Street in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, which killed 77 people a year ago, survivors are still fighting for justice and closure.

Malawian national Mike Ngulube escaped the blazing fire in the early hours of August 31, 2023.

His wife Joyce Banda and their one-year-old daughter Memory died in the fire.

Wife and daughter of a fire survivor died huddled together

They died curled up in a corner from smoke inhalation after being unable to escape through a locked emergency gate.

“I don't remember much about that night. It's all a blur. I remember my family walking down the hall and that was the last time I saw them.

“I escaped from the building through a balcony, jumped into a tree and came down, but I don't know how I ended up in the hospital,” he said.

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While coming to terms with the tragedy, Ngulube suffered a severe blow when he discovered that the morgue had handed over his child's body to the wrong family.

Although Ngulube has tried to find his child's grave, a year has passed without answers. He says he wants justice and accountability for the system's failure to properly handle the situation.

“It haunts me every day. Even now, a year later, I have no answers.

“I feel abandoned by the government”

“I just want my child's body to be buried at home next to his mother. What keeps me awake is the fact that I can visit my wife's grave when I miss her, but what about my child?

“We are talking about a human being, my blood, not just a number. I feel abandoned by the South African government,” he said.

During the Usindiso Commission of Inquiry headed by Judge Sisi Khampepe, Ngulube underwent a DNA test to confirm his daughter's identity.

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However, the authorities have not yet received the results, so Nsulube remains in limbo.

In Johannesburg's central business district, other survivors are also struggling with the consequences of the disaster, including a lack of adequate housing and health problems.

Sihle Dube escaped the devastating fire by jumping from a first-floor window.

Survivor escaped by jumping out of the window

He suffered three broken ribs and a torn muscle in his back. “Life has not improved. A year later, we still have no place to live. We have lost our homes and belongings, but I am happy to be alive. I now live in another hijacked building for which I pay rent.”

“But the community did nothing for us. For them, what happened to us is old news,” said Dube, who was treated for seven days at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.

He had lived in the room since Covid.

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“I was woken up by a loud bang and immediately ran to the door, but there was thick black smoke billowing in the hallway.

“It became pitch black and everyone was screaming in panic. Some people jumped out of the windows and I jumped out too in fear,” he remembers.

Dube has since been involved in a number of meetings and engagements demanding action and justice.

Emergency shelters for fire victims

Others remain in the informal Denver camp, where the settlement authority has built temporary shelters for the fire victims.

The camp, which originally housed 36 firefighter families, now has over 200 people. Of the original 36 families, only 18 remain.

Some have returned to the city, others still have no identity papers and dozens of children have not been to school for a year.

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NGOs and human rights activists, including Andy Chinnah, continue to fight for justice and compensation for the victims.

The Usindiso Commission of Inquiry report concludes that the City of Johannesburg is responsible for the fire and the deaths.

“It was very emotionally stressful because you saw how people were uprooted by a disaster and lost everything in the fire.

Desperate survivors of the fire

“Some people have returned to the city, others are sleeping under a bridge because they are so desperate, but we will not stop fighting for these people,” Chinnah said.

He sharply criticized the city's handling of the housing crisis, saying successive administrations had failed to find solutions.

“Every government tells us it is doing something, but when we ask about the plans, we never see them. Without continuity and real commitment to plans and set goals, nothing will change.”

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