This week, a devastating fire killed 74 people in a hijacked building owned by the City of Johannesburg. For those who live and work in the inner-city, it was a tragedy waiting to happen. Our in-depth investigations, published in 2022, exposed Joburg’s dark heart, where criminality, neglect and threats of violence are the order of the day.
Due to a lack of affordable and decent housing options in the inner city of Johannesburg, abandoned or hijacked buildings have become homes and refuges for many vulnerable groups.
By Michelle Banda
Inner cities are spaces to live, work freely, learn and play. However, under the banner of democracy, the urban poor continue to be marginalised by being denied affordable low-income housing options.
By Michelle Banda
When Operation Dudula sprang up it quickly launched campaigns targeting immigrants, threatening to evict occupants from a derelict building in inner-city Johannesburg. The threat left more than 400 people — including people living with disabilities — in fear of attacks and deportations. Some packed up and fled. Authorities have since closed the building.
By Daily Maverick Reporters
Housing shortages are one of the biggest problems faced by the underprivileged in Johannesburg — fuelled by rapid population growth. The City of Johannesburg is facing a 500,000-strong housing backlog, with at least 100,000 people living homeless, according to the city’s last count five years ago.
Housing shortages are one of the biggest problems faced by the underprivileged in Johannesburg — fuelled by rapid population growth. The City of Johannesburg is facing a 500,000-strong housing backlog, with at least 100,000 people living homeless, according to the city’s last count five years ago.
Albert Street fire tragedy sparks renewed attempt to evict hundreds of people living in derelict downtown buildings.
After 77 people died in a fire in a building owned by the City of Johannesburg, the municipality reportedly plans to go to court to seek clarity on the requirement to place evictees in alternative accommodation, which it says prevents it from dealing with hijacked buildings.
Catastrophic events draw the attention-hungry media into the staggering horror of the moment which, although understandable, pulls the focus away from the years it took to cause the catastrophe.
This week, the city’s neglect of the areas inhabited by ‘foreigners’ really came home to roost in a horrible, horrible way.
The death toll from the inner-city blaze at 80 Albert St in Johannesburg now stands at 76. The building used to be the Usindiso Women’s Shelter, and before that in the apartheid era, it was a Pass Laws office. Here, Rebecca Walker, who co-ran an art-based project for women when it was a shelter, writes how brutality repeats itself, over and over again.
Returning to the scene of the deadly fire in a hijacked building in Marshalltown on Friday morning, Daily Maverick spoke to survivors of the human tragedy, as rescue efforts continued – and the death count climbed to 76.
Residents of the Johannesburg building that caught fire on Thursday, leading to at least 74 deaths, tell Daily Maverick their stories of loss and heartbreak.
The Johannesburg building where at least 74 people died in a fire on Thursday was a provincial government shelter for women and children before ‘some challenges were encountered’. Yet the city blamed NGOs and foreign nationals for the devastating blaze.
The fire that destroyed the derelict building on the corner of Delvers and Albert Street in Johannesburg has left hundreds of families stranded. The city is helping, but resources are stretched and NGOs are calling for help.
Housing shortages are one of the biggest problems faced by the underprivileged in Johannesburg — fuelled by rapid population growth. The City of Johannesburg is facing a 500,000-strong housing backlog, with at least 100,000 people living homeless, according to the city’s last count five years ago.
Exposed: the complete list of 57 hijacked buildings in the inner city.
At least 73 people have been killed and 52 injured in a raging fire in a five-storey hijacked building on the corner Alberts and Delvers streets in the Johannesburg city centre. Daily Maverick spoke to witnesses and survivors on the scene on Thursday morning.
A devastating fire ripped through a Johannesburg inner city building around 1.30am on Thursday, leaving in its wake at least 73 dead and 55 injured, including children and babies. Felix Dlangamandla captured the early morning scenes.
At least 73 people have been killed and 50 injured in a raging fire at a five-storey hijacked building on the corner Alberts and Delvers streets in the Johannesburg city center.
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