Usindiso Commission finds CoJ and JPC partly responsible for Marshalltown fire
The Usindiso Commission made public its findings on the first part of its work on Sunday after months of testimonies.
FILE: The Usindiso building in Johannesburg following a deadly fire in August 2023. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - A commission looking into a fire that claimed 77 lives in Marshalltown has found that the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) are partly responsible for the tragedy.
The Usindiso Commission made public its findings on the first part of its work on Sunday after months of testimonies.
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In August last year, 77 people died in a fire at the hijacked Usindiso building with Premier Panyaza Lesufi establishing the commission a month later.
Former Justice Sisi Khampepe said that the city did not follow its own by-laws which then contributed to this tragedy.
"The accumulation of waste, the presence of unhygienic and unsanitary conditions, the existence of overcrowding and the occupation of the building without a sufficient supply of portable water is evidence of contraventions of sections 5,6,7 and 38 of the public health bylaws."
The first part of the commission was completed last month.
The second part of the commission is set to begin in July with the final report expected at the end of August.