Electricity connections, electrical appliances, and the selling of petrol in small amounts may be among the reasons for regular fires in Kayamandi. This is according to Nomalungisa Bhayibhile, a ward 13 committee member in Kayamandi.
“The cause of these fires is the electricity [connections],” claimed Bhayibhile. “Sometimes people forget to switch off stoves and heaters.”
In one of the more recent fires, hundreds of people in Kayamandi were left with nothing to salvage after a fire ripped through parts of the informal settlement on New Year’s Eve. This is according to Ayanda Tomose, the Kayamandi ward 12 councillor.
“People have lost most of their belongings,” said Tomose. “They’ve lost everything. They have lost their structures [and] their assets.”
Burnt corrugated iron sheets show the effects of a recent fire in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch. Fires are a regular occurrence in the area, said Jaco Thuynsma, station commander at Cape Winelands District Fire Division. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
Fires are ‘98% started by humans’
For many years, shacks in Kayamandi have regularly been ravaged by fires, said Jaco Thuynsma, station commander at Cape Winelands District Fire Division. This highlights the need for the informal structures to comply with legislation in terms of spatial planning and fire safety standards as set by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), he said.
“The fires [in Kayamandi] are structural because that is normally the trend and the problem,” said Thuynsma. “But in general, all [informal settlement] fires (including those that are vegetation-related) are 98% started by human beings, and it’s deliberate.”
Unsafe electrical connections are one of the causes of fires in Kayamandi, according to Nomalungisa Bhayibhile, a ward 13 committee member in Kayamandi. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
No quick fix
Quick fixes for informal settlement fire safety do not exist, said Professor Richard Walls, head of the Fire Engineering Research Unit at Stellenbosch University (SU), and co-author of Fire safety engineering guideline for informal settlements. Building codes and spatial planning models are urgently needed to protect people and homes from fires, he said.
“Various interventions include capacitating and supporting the fire services, providing better water supplies, training of communities, and having basic suppression systems,” said Walls.