Another fire at ‘hijacked’ Joburg CBD building leaves four dead in tragic echo of Usindiso disaster

Four people have died, three people are injured and three people are possibly unaccounted for in the wake of a fire in an abandoned building in the inner city of Johannesburg.

Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi confirmed that they attended to the fire in the early hours of Sunday, 25 August at the three-storey building on the corner of Janie and Jules streets. 

“Firefighters have managed to extinguish the fire which started in the early hours of this morning in Jeppestown in one of the abandoned buildings. We had about four people who lost their lives in this fire incident and three people were injured. One critically injured person was taken to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital and the other two to Hillbrow.”

Mulaudzi said that three people might be unaccounted for. Police were not sure whether they were in the building at the time of the fire and had managed to escape or were still trapped inside. He could not confirm the number of people in the building but said they were “many”.

At this stage, the cause of the fire was believed to be illegal electricity connections.

Mulaudzi said the occupants had used sheet metal to create partitions to create a “shanty town”.

Fire ? in Jeppestown -25 Aug'24@CityofJoburgZA Disaster Management Centre despatched a team to assess the fire incident that occurred in the early hours of this morning - Cnr Jules & Jane Streets for humanitarian assistance.@CoJPublicSafety pic.twitter.com/9MyM9zin9I

— Joburg - Disaster Management Centre (@JoburgDMC) August 25, 2024

New Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero confirmed an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the fire and identify the owner of the building. They had identified a particular company.



"We should admit this is a bigger crisis that requires all of us, both government and private sector. We have been engaging provincial and national government about these matters to find a sustainable solution. One of the biggest challenges is those buildings that are constantly being hijacked by criminal syndicates which require us to also get law enforcement and there are investigations ongoing. But I must say we need a drastic solution."

The premises has been handed over to the police for further investigation.

In a statement on Sunday evening, City Power said it had removed more than 4,000kg of aerial bundled cables worth R120,000 and was continuing with the removal of additional cables. Its assessment of the area was that most properties in the area were factories and businesses suspected to have been hijacked, with services such as water and electricity unlawfully connected. 

“City Power has discovered that the burnt property, which is privately owned, has no registered electricity account. It has therefore been established that the power supply to that building was illegally connected from at least two load centres,” said spokesperson Isaac Mangena.

Mangena said City Power had dealt with more than 120 cases of illegal connections across Johannesburg, with multiple operations undertaken across the inner city. He said in August alone, they had conducted two cut-off operations in Jeppestown, the area where the three-storey building burnt.

The latest fire comes against a backdrop of an anticipated plan by the City of Johannesburg to deal with abandoned or “hijacked” buildings in the aftermath of the Usindiso fire.

Read more: City of Johannesburg pays lip service to tackling ‘hijacked’ buildings

The second phase of the Khampepe Inquiry has stalled, with the commission blaming this on logistical issues.

Daily Maverick understands that the second part of the inquiry can proceed only once the city responds to part one, which was released at the end of April 2024. Almost four months later, the city has not yet responded. DM

Read more: City of Joburg silent after inquiry finds it responsible for Usindiso fire

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Four people were killed in a fire at a Jeppestown building (Photo: X/@arrivealive)