Two informal settlements in South Africa, Kenville and Ramaphosa, were hit by devastating fires that destroyed homes and claimed the lives of three people, including a pregnant mother. The Kenville fire broke out just after 12am on Sunday, and the City of eThekwini's Fire and Emergency Services unit responded immediately. By the time 30 firefighters extinguished the flames, over 100 homes had been razed to the ground, leaving more than 300 people displaced.
The fire claimed the file of a young pregnant woman and her unborn child. Gift of the Givers, a disaster response NGO, has been on the ground since 5am on Sunday, helping with relief efforts. The city is arranging alternative accommodation for those affected. Gift of the Givers is offering hot meals to residents affected by the fire, as many had nothing to eat since the blaze broke out.
In the Western Cape, the Ramaphosa informal settlement was also hit by a blaze that claimed the lives of two people. The City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management office has not received a response to the blaze and its cause. Gift of the Givers project manager Ali Sablay said that while authorities were still investigating the cause of the fire, neighbors informed the organization that due to extreme cold weather on Saturday night, a family made a fire inside an informal structure to keep warm.
Gift of the Givers teams have been on the ground since the beginning of the series of storms that hit the Western Cape, causing thousands of informal settlements or structures to be severely damaged and people having to be evacuated. The worst fear for any family or resident of an informal settlement was that they would make a fire in their structure to get warm due to the current situation of floods occurring in the Western Cape.
