Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse said that illegal connections could be the cause of the fire that ravaged over 400 homes near Kwa Mai Mai.
The blaze, which broke out on Sunday in the densely populated community, tore through more than 400 structures.
At least one person died in the incident and one other was injured.
Residents were forced to flee their homes as the fire spread from shack to shack.
The mayor said that investigations were under way to determine the extent of damage to infrastructure after they lost all their belongings in the fire.
“The biggest lesson out of this is that illegal connections are a liability, not only to the city and residents but also to occupants of those properties that are illegally connected. They are dangerous and we have lost too many lives,” Phalatse said.
Meanwhile the City’s Housing MMC, Mlungisi Mabaso has promised that the site will be cleared in seven days.
“The process of clearing the site we have given it seven days, because the facility that we are moving the residents to has been provided by the department of sports and Recreation,” said Mabaso
“As of today the team will be onsite with consultants and we will start erecting new shacks, we will then start with the allocations.”
