Informal settlement blaze in Khayelitsha demolishes more than 1,500 homes

Over 1,500 hundred homes at an informal settlement in Khayelitsha have been destroyed in a devastating blaze on 16 December 2023.

CAPE TOWN – Relief aid group Gift of the Givers says a fire ravaged over 1,500 hundred homes at an informal settlement in Khayelitsha.

The number of families affected by the morning blaze has not yet been established.

Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay said no deaths were reported, but one person was taken to hospital after sustaining serious injuries.

“Our teams were on-site with the disaster management team doing assessments. All credit is due to the City of Cape Town Fire Department team who were on-site since 05:30 am this morning, and are still currently putting out the blaze,” he said.

Sablay said many families had lost everything in the fire.

“Yesterday, some of the community members were paid their stokvel in terms of food hampers – and the five-litre cooking oil that was in the informal settlement started exploding, spreading the fire further.”

]]>