“Deeply disturbed”: Southern African Bishops on Utterances Downplaying Fire Tragedy

They say, “South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency remarks regarding the fire saying that ‘it’s not the government’s task to provide homes for undocumented immigrants’ is disingenuous in its attempt to shift blame and scapegoat foreign nationals – as if some lives are less important than others.”

"Such a cold, uncompassionate response from a senior leader in government is profoundly disturbing," members of the three-nation Conference that brings together Catholic Bishops in Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa lament. 

In the statement that SACBC spokesperson, Archbishop Stephen Brislin, signed, the Catholic Church leaders blame the tragedy on “slumlords”. 

"The real culprits of this tragedy are those slumlords who capture such buildings and who unscrupulously exploit the homeless and the poor, forcing them to live in inhumane and dangerous situations while charging them rent for the 'privilege' to live in such death traps," they say.

They say slumlords' behaviors are "symptomatic of the widespread sense of lawlessness that prevails in our country that such illegality is allowed to happen and goes unpunished."

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SACBC members say that the people of God in South Africa need to be infuriated by the fact that poor and homeless people are taken advantage of.

“The outrage we feel should not be confined to the tragedy of this particular loss of life, but our outrage should extend to the fact that there are still so many tens of thousands of poor, homeless people who are forced by circumstances to live in such dangerous situations where basic safety laws are not observed, and illegality is not dealt with,” the Catholic Bishops say.

Meanwhile, members of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) have condoled with the families of those who have lost their lives in the inferno in which at least 50 people were injured.

In a Thursday, August 31 statement, SACC members say they have “noted with deep shock” the fire incident. 

“The Council wishes to extend condolences to the families of the bereaved and offer prayers for those who are injured and have been irreparably affected by this disaster,” say the representatives of churches in South Africa, who include those drawn from SACBC. 

The Christian leaders call on faith-based organizations in the country to offer spiritual and material support to the affected people. They say, “The Council is continuing to seek ways of mobilizing the churches in the area to be of pastoral support to the residents.”

The church leaders in South Africa laud the emergency services for working to stop the fire and save lives. 

“It is heartening to see the emergency services in full effect, even at great personal risk to themselves - working tirelessly to save lives and retrieve the bodies of the deceased from a building that was smoldering with the effects of the fire,” they say. 

On his part, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has condoled with those who lost their loved ones in the fire tragedy and called for investigations into the cause of the fire. 

President Ramaphosa has also described the fire tragedy as “a wake-up call” to address the nation’s housing crisis.

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“We need to get on top of this and find effective ways of dealing with problems of accommodation, of housing, and services in the inner city,” the South African President said during a site visit to assess the damage from the fire on August 31.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.