Johannesburg - Human rights organisation Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) has denied litigating against the City of Joburg against the removal of illegally occupied buildings in the city centre.
This comes after MMC for Public Safety, Dr Mgcini Tshwaku, accused the human rights organisation and many of its peers of having fought the City through a series of court cases.
Tshwaku told the media that he and other officials had been arrested for attempting to take over some of the buildings occupied illegally.
"SERI and other NGOs must come to the party. Where are they now? We told them that this building would catch fire one day. But they threaten us with litigation when we try to move people," he said.
This came following the deaths of at least 73 people who had been living in a five-storey building due in which a fire broke out in the early hours of yesterday (Thursday).
The building, which has been identified as the Usindiso Shelter for Women and Children, has become the latest hijacked building belonging to the city to catch fire, resulting in the loss of lives.
Khululiwe Bhengu, SERI's senior attorney, said there was no truth to the allegations made by City officials.
"SERI has never litigated against the City of Johannesburg in relation to this building; our only involvement in the building related to the temporary placement of two of our clients by the City of Johannesburg following their displacement by a fire in September 2014. However, SERI has consistently tried to engage the City to improve conditions in its shelters, to no avail.
"To shift the blame to NGOs, as people speaking for the City are currently doing, speaks to the municipality’s unwillingness to take responsibility for the inner city housing crisis.
"Despite these tactics and the City’s ongoing recalcitrance, SERI remains determined in defending the rights of vulnerable people who face illegal evictions in the City of Johannesburg at the hands of either the state or private owners, with no alternative accommodation (offered) and in direct contravention of the rights entrenched in the Constitution," Bhengu said in a statement.
He added that it was unfortunate that innocent lives had been lost in this manner, as the building is one of the many neglected buildings belonging to the City.
"(Yesterday) morning, Johannesburg residents woke up to the devastating news that upwards of 50 lives have been lost in a fire in an inner city building owned by the municipality.
"SERI deeply regrets the rising loss of lives, and we express our condolences to the families of the deceased residents. We wish a speedy recovery to those in the hospital," Bhengu added.
"Unfortunately, the fire at the Usindiso shelter is an example of how the City deals with its shelters, which are occupied by many of Johannesburg’s poorest and most vulnerable residents.
“The condition of the shelters and transitional housing need to be urgently improved, and people living in them need access to basic services," said Bhengu.
The Star