Kennedy Road blaze ‘exposes vulnerabilities of oldest, youngest’ – DA
The DA
in KZN says the devastating fire at Durban's Kennedy Road Informal Settlement has only exposed the vulnerability of society's oldest and
youngest.
The blaze broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning.
One person was killed, and five were taken to hospital.
Nearly a thousand dwellings have been destroyed.
The DA’s KZN spokesperson on Social Development Mmabatho Tembe visited the area and spoke to some of the affected families.
She said distraught parents have told her they've lost all their documents, including those belonging to their children.
Some of the elderly shared how they struggled to get to places of safety during the fire due to their frail state.
Tembe said she hopes their lives won't be put on hold for too long as they wait for replacement documents.
“We need to have lists that are produced and those lists will have to go to social development and SASSA and have to be verified and that takes such a long time to do so.
READ: Search continues for child missing after Kennedy Road blaze
“While they doing that, a lot of children are still sitting around and not going to school, it's quite devastating, and I really hope social development and SASSA work together with Disaster Management to make sure that is quickly done. But the best they could do now is approach the schools that these children go to."
A team from KZN's Cooperative Governance Department is also due to visit the settlement on Monday.
At least one person has been confirmed dead with 5 said to be taken to hospital while a child is among those missing following the Kennedy Road informal settlement blaze which broke out in the early hours of yesterday. These figures are expected to change. @SteveBhengu pic.twitter.com/pdwkNZ7eZv
— ECR_Newswatch (@ECR_Newswatch) July 17, 2023
