South Africa: Suspect Arrested for Deadly Building Fire

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Facts

• On Wednesday, police announced that they arrested a man in connection with a fire that killed over 70 people in an illegally occupied building in Marshalltown, central Johannesburg, last year. The blaze was one of the world's deadliest building fires in recent years.¹
• The 29-year-old man was arrested after he confessed his involvement to the Commission of Inquiry according to Gauteng Provincial Police, which includes Johannesburg. The suspect will soon face trial on charges of arson, over 70 counts of murder, and 120 counts of attempted murder.²
• The suspect, an admitted drug user whose name was not disclosed, claimed that he beat and strangled another man to death on the night of the blaze before pouring fuel over his corpse and setting it on fire. A drug dealer who lived in the building had ordered him to kill the man, he claimed.³
• Owned by the City of Johannesburg, the five-story building was occupied by illegal landlords renting out units to homeless people, with many of what witnesses described as 200 residents believed to be illegal immigrants. Of the 76 people killed,12 were children, and an additional 50 people were injured, according to the authorities.⁴
• Many people jumped out of windows to escape the flames with some throwing their babies and children out of windows, health officials said, and according to emergency service officials, most of the fire escapes in the building were locked or secured with chains on the night of the blaze.³
• The building blaze was one of the deadliest fire incidents in Africa, Wynand Engelbrecht, head of private fire brigade Fire Opps SA, said in his testimony to the committee of inquiry last week. He claimed there were 'hundreds of other such buildings in the city or the country' and called for standardized fire codes for South Africa.⁵

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²SABC News, ³Guardian, ⁴Daily Mail and ⁵SowetanLIVE.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by BBC News. The disaster is a depressing reminder of South Africa's profound political and social problems. Since the 2000s, buildings in cities like Johannesburg have been hijacked by gangs and drug dealers keeping homeless people in inhumane conditions, while the authorities either lack the resources or are too incompetent to do anything about it. Meanwhile, basic safety regulations are blatantly disregarded in hundreds of buildings that are left to decay. Safety and human lives are no priority in South Africa and it's only a matter of time before another tragedy strikes.
• Narrative B, as provided by IOL. The deadly fire was a tragic incident and undoubtedly serves as a wake-up call for South Africa to redouble its efforts to tackle the issue of safe housing, stop the decay of inner cities, and revitalize urban areas. Municipal authorities need to apply regulatory and legal provisions to protect human life or will be held accountable. Moreover, additional steps will be taken to prevent migrants who are legally in the country from being exploited by criminals and to regulate illegal migration. South Africa will rise to these challenges on its way to a prosperous future.

Predictions