Cape Town - The homeless community was dealt a blow this weekend as two separate fires damaged seven structures and displaced 11 people.
The first incident occurred at a homeless encampment opposite the Sea Point police station called Tent City on Saturday morning and another one near the Mitchells Plain public transport interchange.
The City’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said the fire services were alerted at approximately 9.13am to informal structures burning on the corner of AZ Berman Drive and 8th Avenue, Mitchells Plain.
Carelse said four informal structures were destroyed and left seven people displaced. He said police were requested to attend to the scene, as it was suspected that someone deliberately set the structures alight. He said no injuries were reported.
The Mitchells Plain fire follows a day after what activist Deon Carelse said was a confrontation with police on the plight of the homeless after they dismantled their structures at the same site.
Carelse, who spoke to the occupants of the field, said the cause of the fire remained a mystery and that two fires broke out in the field, on Saturday morning and evening.
“Police come to this specific site daily to bully these groups of homeless people. The latest operation was nothing but bullying and harassment where the police broke down structures with no court order. While I cannot confirm that the fire was deliberate it does raises questions,” he said.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg, however, said no criminal case was registered for investigation.
Before the Mitchells Plain fire, Sea Point fire services responded to informal structures burning opposite the Shell garage adjacent to the tennis courts in Sea Point.
Carelse said three informal structures were destroyed, leaving four people displaced. He said the cause of the fire was unknown and no injuries or fatalities were reported.
FF Plus councillor Paul Jacobson said this was the fourth time that fire had erupted in Tent City. Jacobson said these incidents were causing a huge risk and threat to the community as well as the homeless group.
“While there were no casualties, it's a matter of time before someone gets injured or worse dies in these fires. The street dwellers have to be removed and placed into a facility.
“No one can be forced out of the street but they must be in a space where they can be uplifted with psychiatrist care, and job opportunities,” he said.