The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐จ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐๐ผ๐๐ป. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ท๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
The commission helped us uncover the causes of the fire, the negligence of the municipality and all its appendages such as the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) and Joburg Emergency Management Services (EMS). As such, it is a step further in pursuit of jusitice for the victims who died and those who lost their belongings in the fire. For this, SAFTU supports the recommendations and calls for their full implementation. The commission recommends amongst others, as follows:
โข Holding COJ officials and departments accountable for negligence, including possible criminal prosecutions
โข โ Disciplinary action against those responsible at the Johannesburg Property
โข Company (JPC) and the Member of the Mayorial Committee (MMC) past and present for their dereliction of duty
โข Continued social and psychological support for victims
โข Prosecution of the person responsible for starting the fire
โข Expedited issuance of ID documents for those who lost them in the fire.
Despite claims made by xenophobes and those seeking to scapegoat the failures of the governmnet that caused the housing crisis and worsening crime levels on the immigrants, disproves them as it shows that 23 of those that were identififed were all South Africans. That South African poor workers opt to live in these inhabitable buildings, proves that the real problem is the housing crisis, not the so called illegal immigrants occupying buildings illegally. This is not to dismiss that criminal syndicates, some of whom are immigrants, do occupy buildings illegally, sometimes pushing legal owners out of such properties.
It has been and it is still our contention that government is the main culprit to be blamed for the tragedy at Usindiso building because of negligence, failure to implement the Cityโs by-laws, and the ultimate crisis of housing that has gripped the city and the country at large. For instance, the Marshalltown Fire Justice Campaign reported that the housing backlog in Johannesburg stands at 500 000 housing units. Given that only 2500 housing units were built in 2022, at this pace, it will take 200 years to clear this backlog.
SAFTU demands that government must build houses to the poor and needy urgently. This will resolve the question of illegal occupation of abondoned buildings, which are often in inhabitable conditions with no access to water, electricity and refuse collection. Given an opportunity, the tenants in these delapidated buildings will opt out, simply because conditions in those buildings are not fit for humans.
