The use of this tragedy by some politicians to argue in favour of removing hijacked buildings is part of a longstanding pattern of blaming the poor, writes the author.
The fire that killed at least 76 people in a five-storey building in Johannesburg on 31 August is not an isolated incident, and has elicited the usual unhelpful response from some city officials and politicians.
The rhetoric by politicians and city officials treats the latest tragedy as a freakish problem of hijacked buildings occupied by migrant populations. Three firefighters died, and the building itself was subsequently demolished. The building had not been illegally occupied; it was rented by the Gauteng provincial government, which was aware that the building was non-compliant in advance of the incident.Three years later, emergency services were hampered in their efforts to contain the fire at a public hospital, Charlotte Maxeke, by incompatible fire hydrant couplings.
Once again, some politicians and officials have arrived at the idea that since these settlements are not fit for human habitation, they should be eliminated. In 2006 the elected representative responsible for housing in the KwaZulu-Natal province announced legislation to provide for the progressive elimination of slums.
If these households earned higher wages, they would not choose to live in places that were at risk of fire, flooding and other potential disasters.
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