On 31 August 2023, South Africans woke up to the news of a deadly blaze in a hijacked building in Marshalltown that had, at the time, claimed 30 lives. The death toll would rise to 76 (or 77. We’ll explain why shortly.). The tragedy, now dubbed the Usindiso Building Fire, made headlines globally as one of the deadliest fires to ever happen in Joburg. Now, the Commission of Inquiry into the fire, led by Judge Sisi Khampepe, has handed in the first part of their report. 

The Fire

In the early hours of 31 August 2023, a fire broke out at 80 Albert Street, Marshalltown, which used to house the Usindiso Ministries Women’s Shelter. Initially, 30 people were believed to have died in the fire, one of the deadliest in Johannesburg’s history, but the death toll quickly rose to 76, including 12 children. 

Well, in reality, 77 bodies were found in the building, with one person who had died before the fire. Sithembiso Lawrence Mdlalose, a resident of the building, admitted to starting the fire to dispose of the body of someone he had murdered on the orders of a Tanzanian drug lord he worked for. Mdlalose confessed during his testimony at the Commission of Inquiry. He was arrested in January 2024 and is charged with 76 counts of murder, 86 counts of attempted murder and a charge of arson. 

Emergency Response 

One of the residents of the building, Omari Hanya, testified that it took firefighters 45 minutes to arrive on the scene. “There were people who were calling them, and they came after 45 minutes, and when they got there, they did not even have water,” said Hanya. He alleged they didn’t have water and had to look for a pipe to connect. Another resident, Maditaba Ramotoso, who moved into the building in 2019, said that more people would have survived if the firefighters had started fighting the fire sooner. We know that the Johannesburg Emergency Services are struggling. EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said in December 2023 that out of the city’s 30 fire engines, only 15 are in working order.

That number is devastatingly low; depending on who you ask, it might not even be right. 

Commission’s findings, so far

After the tragedy, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced a Commission of Inquiry led by former Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe. The Commission was plagued by drama from the get-go, including, in an ironic twist, the venue failing to comply with the Joburg Emergency Management Service (EMS) regulations limiting the number of people inside the hearing room.

On Sunday, Khampepe handed in the first part of the report to Lesufi, having found the City of Johannesburg (COJ) and its entity, The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), partly responsible for the tragedy. The Commission said the city did not follow its own bylaws, partly contributing to the fire. “The accumulation of waste, the presence of unhygienic and unsanitary conditions, the existence of overcrowding, and the occupation of the building without a sufficient supply of potable water, coupled with the COJ’s failure to prevent, eliminate, and remove such public health hazards and nuisances is evidence of the contravention sections 5(2); 6; 7(2); and 38; of the public health by-laws,” said Khampepe. She noted that city officials knew about the state of the building and did nothing. 

While this is only the first part of the commission’s findings, some of their recommendations so far include:

🔷 Demolishing the building
🔷Erecting a memorial plaque to honour the victims
🔷Disciplinary action for accounting officers of four city entities: JPC, City Power, Joburg Water and Pikitup

The Commission resumes in July, and the final report is expected at the end of August.

The Usindiso Fire represents what happens when municipalities fail their citizens, leaving people to live in squalor. Heads need to roll, and the City of Johannesburg needs to be decisive about recapturing hijacked buildings and ensuring residents have access to decent housing and services. We can only hope the Commission recommendations are implemented.