From flames to bullets: Usindiso fire survivors endure fresh nightmare
Thobeka Biyela, shot by stray bullets while sleeping in her shack at Denver settlement. Image: Antonio Muchave
A young mother who narrowly escaped the deadly Usindiso building fire in Johannesburg is now battling another life-threatening ordeal after being struck by stray bullets in the shack where she was relocated.
Thobeka Biyela, 28, survived the 2023 Marshalltown blaze that claimed 76 lives and displaced hundreds. But her attempt to rebuild her life in Denver’s Shalazi informal settlement was shattered when gunfire erupted near her shack in February this year.
“I was asleep when two bullets tore into my stomach,” Biyela recalled. “I didn’t even know where they came from. Earlier there had been shouting outside, but fights are so common here that I ignored it. Then I woke up bleeding.”
Neighbours rushed her to hospital. Doctors removed one bullet but left the second lodged dangerously close to vital organs.
“I live with constant pain—and fear. Whether I’m inside or outside, the gunfire never stops,” she said.
Broken Promises and Daily Fear
The Denver relocation site was meant to be a temporary refuge for survivors of both the Usindiso fire and the 2021 Booysens fire. More than R4.2 million was spent on building over 300 shacks, each costing around R14,000. Residents say the structures were poorly built, with leaking roofs and little protection from crime.
Today, fewer than 10 families remain, describing the camp as a “ghost settlement” where criminal gangs roam. Survivors accuse the City of Johannesburg of abandoning them, leaving them exposed to violence, trauma and poverty.
“If the city had kept its promise to move us to permanent housing, I wouldn’t have been shot,” Biyela said.
TimesLIVE’s sister publication, Sowetan, sent detailed questions about residents’ complaints to city spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane. After two weeks, no response had been received.
Trauma That Never Ends
Simphiwe “Van Wyk” Ngcobo, 40, who lost her son in the blaze, said her surviving daughter is haunted by the sight of bodies from that night.
“Gunshots are part of our daily lives here. It feels like we escaped one death trap only to be placed in another. We were promised safety and dignity, but we’ve been forgotten,” Ngcobo said.
When the Denver camp was created, officials said the accommodation would be short-term, with permanent housing expected within six months. Nearly two years later, residents say there is still no clear relocation plan, and they are pleading for urgent relocation, counselling and protection.
Source: SowetanLIVE
