High Court orders Delvers Street fire victims to be relocated
MMC for Human Settlements Cllr Anthea Leitch attended a community meeting on the evening of 4 October 2023 at the Klipriviersberg Recreation Centre to address the concerns of residents about the recent court order to relocate the Delvers Street occupants to an alternative location.
On 31 August 2023, about 77 people tragically lost their lives after a fire started in the Usindiso building in Marshalltown. The incident has caught the attention of the entire World, the President came on scene and offered his deepest condolences to all those affected by the fire tragedy and called on all relevant agencies to help restore the wellbeing of those impacted.
According to MMC Leitch, the High Court named a location listed as “portion 18 of Patlynn”, to which the occupants would be taken to occupy. This land was submitted to the court by the Joburg Property Company.
The MMC would like to take this opportunity to make it clear to the residents in and around this area that MMC Leitch and the officials from the City of Johannesburg – including those over which she has direct political oversight at human settlements – are still processing the court order and no displaced people should be moved to Kibler Park or elsewhere in Ward 125 or 23.
She respects the court, and therefore a different solution, within the bounds of the law, is being explored.
Other solutions indeed exist, with alternative options.
The Department of Human Settlements’ MMC remains committed to pursuing an integrated solution to the problem of dangerous and hijacked buildings throughout the city, but in such a way that no communities in other areas of the city are left feeling compromised.
