Some Usindiso building fire survivors now living in informal settlement behind old structure

JOHANNESBURG - Nearly one year after the devastating Usindiso building fire, some displaced survivors now live in an informal settlement behind the five-storey building.

Saturday marks a year since a massive blaze engulfed the hijacked property in Johannesburg’s inner city, claiming 77 lives and leaving hundreds more homeless.

Although the city constructed temporary shelters in Denver, many have since chosen to relocate to the Emaxhoseni informal settlement.

At the corner of Albert and Denver Streets in Marshalltown stands what used to be home to over 200 impoverished families.

But directly across from the back entrance of the Usindiso building, an informal settlement has sprung up, with the shadow of the five-storey building hovering over it.

As Eyewitness News entered what’s now known as Emaxhoseni, we were met by groups of men gathered around a table, focused on a dice game.

Zabi Khumalo, a victim of the deadly blaze, said this was his new reality.

"I see this building every day. When we wake up in the morning, we see it. Even when we’re just chilling here, it's all we think about."

Khumalo is among those who couldn’t relocate to the City of Johannesburg’s shelters in Denver.