Johannesburg academics on city centre fire

Dear editor

We, the undersigned academics at Johannesburg’s universities, express our most heartfelt condolences to the families of 77 fellow residents who died in the fire at the Osindiso Building in the city centre. We sympathise with those who were injured and whose possessions were destroyed in this tragic event.

We hold the City of Johannesburg, which is the owner of the building, responsible for allowing it to fall into the state of dilapidation that made the disaster more likely. We condemn politicians who have blamed immigrants and NGOs (especially the Socio-Economic Rights Institute) for what occurred. Civil society organisations and all our country’s residents – no matter their national origin – expect the municipality to follow our Constitution and the law, so that suitable accommodation is located for evicted inhabitants of ‘hijacked’ buildings, prior to their demolition or refurbishment. Attacks on foreigners and their defenders will, whether intentionally or not, stimulate xenophobic violence. Our support for the enforcement of constitutional rights, including the right to life and the right to shelter, is a defence of the very cornerstones of our democracy.

The duty of the municipality is to maintain publicly-owned buildings, and ensure the security of all workers and inhabitants. The building’s heritage status and the fact that it was set aside for sheltered accommodation for women and children, reflect how poorly current leaders are managing our vibrant inner city. Municipal failure to protect our history, as well as victims of gender-based violence, is a hypocritical disgrace.

We also stand by our students, many of whom live in inner-city Johannesburg, some of whom experience xenophobia on a daily basis.

We demand that the City provide due compensation to families of those who perished and to those residents who lived in Osindiso. Reparations for municipal malpractice must include provision of permanent housing.

We call on all residents of our city to hold our many mayors and mayoral committee members, former and current, responsible for the decay of scores of inner-city buildings. Those implicated in ignoring the conditions that led to so many unnecessary deaths should face dismissal and prosecution for dereliction of duty.

Regards