A man died, 10 homes were razed and about 100 people were left homeless when fire tore through “Site 5” in Dunoon on Saturday.
Firefighters were called just after midnight to attend to the fire in Mnandi Road, Dunoon, which by that time had affected several homes.
The City’s Disaster Risk Management department and Electricity and Solid Waste department officials were assisting the community to rebuild their structures after they were provided with building materials.
The City’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Liezl Moodie said 22 firefighters and six water tankers helped douse the fire.
She said the cause of the fire was still not known.
Neighbours said the man who died lived alone, his family was unknown, and the fire did not start in his house.
Siyabulela Mvelaphi said he lost everything in the fire except the clothes he was wearing.
“It was too late for me to save anything because by the time I heard people screaming and alerting everyone that there is a fire, the fire had already engulfed most of the shacks,” he said. “The only thing on my mind at the time was my life.”
Community leader Patrick Bula said the reason 10 shacks burnt was because they were close to each other, making it difficult for emergency personnel to access some of them.
“People don't deserve to live in this congested area. The government must come up with its plans about building decent houses for these people, otherwise we are going to experience fire after fire,” said Bula.