Mayfair West tragedy — Joburg mother and child die in fire amid water shortages

In the early hours of Monday morning, 9 June, a fire broke out in a five-bedroom house in Mayfair West, Johannesburg, claiming the lives of a mother and her daughter.

The pair has been identified as Raeesah Bulbulia Moesa and her daughter Ayesha Suliman. A funeral service was held at Westpark Cemetery on Monday night.

Joburg EMS confirmed that four other people were rushed to a nearby medical facility to be treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns. Residents said the injured included two children, aged four and eight, who were on ventilators at the ICU at Milpark Hospital. Their father had burn injuries.

City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) said a structural fire call had been received at 2.49am, and fire appliances arrived on the scene at 3.05am. Preliminary information suggests the fire started in the lounge area.

Read more: ‘We warned you’ — Joburg ignored years of alerts before four Mayfair toddlers died in fire

Residents in the area have raised concerns about the response time of emergency services, saying help arrived too late. Before firefighters arrived, neighbours rallied to try to contain the blaze, but as is often the case in Johannesburg West in the early hours of the morning, due to throttling, no water came from the taps.

“The water was off this morning when the house burnt, and the neighbours couldn’t even put their hosepipes on. They had to take five litres of water from their house to help until the fire brigade came,” said a Mayfair resident, who chose to remain anonymous. “It’s so sad with this water situation – it goes off every night.”

Mayfair, like many suburbs in Johannesburg West, often experiences water outages between 2am and 4am due to Johannesburg Water’s practice of “throttling” – reducing water pressure overnight to manage limited reservoir levels. 

Dr Ferrial Adam, executive director of civil society organisation WaterCAN, said, “The tragic fire in Mayfair West, which took two lives and left others injured, is yet another devastating reminder of the risks communities face when basic services fail.”

“The lack of water at the time – due to night-time throttling – meant that residents had no way to respond effectively,” said Adam. “This should never happen.”

Read more: Coronationville residents take to the streets, fed up by persistent Johannesburg water outages

High-lying areas such as Mayfair and Coronationville are especially affected, as pumping water uphill renders them vulnerable to low or no water supply during periods of high demand or system constraints.

Adam said that the city had to find an alternative to throttling, noting that “experienced engineers tell us that this is harmful to the already fragile system.”

Nana Radebe-Kgiba, spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS), confirmed that there had been no water available in the area when the fire occurred. However, she explained that in every incident where there was no water – such as in informal settlements – EMS sent both a water tanker and a fire engine to avoid relying on the limited local water supply.

She said the water tanker was used as a refiller for the fire engine.”

“We sent a water tanker with water and a fire engine – so even if there’s no water around the area, we don’t depend on the water; this is also how we respond to informal settlements,” Radebe-Kgiba said.

“When we arrived on scene, the first response was a water tanker, and they immediately had to assist with a search and rescue.”

City EMS has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the blaze.

Just heard the terrible news of the loss of life of two members of the Bulbulia family in Jason Street Crosby/ Mayfair . Their house caught fire . The fire services and ambulance did not arrive on time and neighbours were unable to put out the fire as there is no water on…

— Ashraf Garda (@AshrafGarda) June 9, 2025