Grief and anger have engulfed South Africa’s shack dwellers’ movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, following a devastating fire that claimed the lives of five children from the same family in the Ekuphumleni informal settlement at Shakas Head.
In a statement released on Saturday, the grassroots movement Abahlali baseMjondolo confirmed that the fire broke out at around 3:00 am, overwhelming the densely packed settlement before residents could rescue the children.
“The community tried to stop the fire and rescue the children but to no avail. The fire was too strong,” the statement said, describing the devastation as “beyond words.”
The tragedy comes barely a week after the movement buried one of its leaders, Zweli “Khabazela” Mkhize, who was assassinated for his organizing and activism. “Death is everywhere,” the statement reads, adding that the movement is forced to move “from funeral to funeral, from political funeral to political funeral.”
“Being poor means living close to death”
Abahlali baseMjondolo contextualized the fire within what it described as “structural violence” faced daily by the urban poor. Decades of neglect have left shack settlements highly vulnerable to fires, floods, and other disasters.
“For twenty years we have been struggling to get the crisis of regular fires in shack settlements recognized as a crisis,” the statement said. “But our lives do not count to this society and so we have been left to burn.”
The tragedy is linked to a broader condition in informal settlements, including overcrowding, lack of basic services, and the use of highly flammable building materials. “You can die slowly or you can die quickly. You can die in a fire or from a gun, but however you die, it is certain that your life is given no value by this system of oppression.”
Evictions and inequality
The Shakas Head community is also facing eviction pressures, which Abahlali baseMjondolo says are driven by wealthy residents in nearby gated coastal estates, with the backing of the ruling African National Congress.
According to the movement, a heavily armed private security company equipped with drones, a helicopter, and automatic weapons works closely with police in the area. “The rich, the ruling party and the state are aligned against the poor,” accusing authorities of treating shack dwellers as “human waste” who must be pushed out of sight.
Read more: Abahlali baseMjondolo marks 20 years of struggle for land, dignity, and socialism
Movement and community respond
Leaders of Abahlali baseMjondolo rushed to the settlement after receiving news of the fire, where the movement held a prayer in solidarity with the grieving family.
In dialogue with Peoples Dispatch, Thapelo Mohapi, Abahlali baseMjondolo’s general secretary, confirmed that the parents of the children are receiving counseling. “It’s a very difficult situation. At this stage we do not know what started the fire,” the spokesperson said. “But what we do know is that people continue to live under systemic conditions of injustice; no services, no water, no access roads, and shacks built of wood.”
The spokesperson added that post-apartheid South Africa has failed the poor. “People are treated like animals by our own government. We continue to die in fires, floods, and disasters. I cannot imagine parents losing all their children. Their only crime is being poor.”
The movement named the children who lost their lives as Asamkele Somntsewu (19), Sonwabise Noyila (14), Amila Menemene (4), and one-year-old twins Sokhula and Solulele Somntsewu. Two family members, Ntombovuyo Menemene and Yana Menemene, remain hospitalized.
“Our children are as precious and beautiful as all other children,” the statement concluded. “We will fight with all that we have for their future. Nothing short of a revolution, one that recognizes the humanity of all people, is good enough for them.”
