The deadliest fire in more than a century in Britain led to at least 72 deaths and scores of injured residents, and changed the lives of the affected people forever. As flames engulfed the Usindiso building in Johannesburg, leaving 77 dead, many injured and hundreds displaced, Grenfell Tower in London came to mind. There are big differences between the two, of course. Most notable is that those in Grenfell Tower were in council-provided housing, while those in Johannesburg occupied a building abandoned by the City. 

Despite the differences, there are haunting parallels, including the number of deaths, the similarities between those who lived in the buildings, the devastation caused and the disdain with which victims were treated by their respective governments.

Another striking similarity is the respective governments’ responses to the fires. In both cases the governments turned to an official inquiry – a tool governments often turn to when they want to be seen to be doing something. While the one in South Africa is yet to start – after an abrupt postponement – the British one closed after 400 days of evidence, 300,000 documents and 1,500 witness statements. 

Acclaimed archivist Professor Verne Harris argues that inquiries in South Africa have not led to justice, referring to the country’s long history of establishing them and their outcomes.

“Whatever the intentions of those working in them, no matter the quality of the work they do, they are designed to create a simulacrum of accountability, of justice,” Harris writes. 

His words resonate, even beyond South Africa’s borders. While it is acknowledged that the Grenfell Tower Inquiry exposed the incompetence and negligence that led to the 2017 fire, some have expressed concern that the inquiry has delayed justice.

Five years after the fire, many continued to live in unsafe properties, and the majority of the recommendations from phase one of the inquiry, which took 16 months to complete, had not been implemented. More than 1,000 buildings in the British capital reportedly still had serious fire failures. A key recommendation – provision of a personal evacuation plan for disabled tenants – was rejected by ministers. A ban on the use of the flammable cladding (found to have caused the rapid spread of the fire) for residential buildings and schools that are more than 18m tall, was put in place. But as recently as 2022, 481 buildings were found to be using it – some simply because leaseholders could not afford the cost despite the government’s assurances that industry would cover this.

The recommendations of inquiries not being implemented, with which South Africans are very familiar, should be safeguarded against.

In the opening statement on behalf of Behailu Kebede, in whose flat the Grenfell Tower blaze broke out, a concern was raised that there would be an attempt to “pass the buck” during the inquiry. And indeed, those responsible for the conditions that enabled the loss of life in the fire chose to play the blame game.

This should particularly concern South Africa given that the attempt to pass blame started in the immediate aftermath of the Johannesburg fire. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni scapegoated migrants, as did the City of Johannesburg, which also pointed at NGOs.

The release of the final report on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been pushed to 2024, further delaying justice. But, as seen with the limited progress made in implementing the recommendations that are currently available, it is not the inquiry that will necessarily lead to change. Some of the major milestones made to improve the living conditions of those in social housing are a result of organising, including by the survivors and bereaved families who came together under the banner of Grenfell United. This year the Social Housing Bill was made law, which gives social housing watchdogs greater powers to act against landlords who provide substandard housing. 

In South Africa, movements such as the Inner City Federation, a group of low-income residents living in Johannesburg’s so-called bad buildings, have for many years been organising for well-located, affordable housing for low-income residents. Together with the victims of the fire and other movements, they recently organised a mass demonstration against housing injustice in the city. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Joburg’s heart of darkness

Caring societies will never be achieved as long as the injustices that create atrocities like the fires at Grenfell Tower and Usindiso are allowed to continue. For as long as low-income residents in urban centres continue to be treated as second-class citizens, these atrocities will remain possible and, in the case of Johannesburg, inevitable. DM