The Collen Mashawana Foundation has stepped in to assist the family after a double-storey house collapse claimed the lives of three relatives, including a one-year-old. As the Doornkop family in Soweto continues to receive outpourings of support from city officials and organizations, the tragic circumstances surrounding their loss become more clear. City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero confirmed that the building was illegally constructed and never approved.
“This place in itself was an illegal structure, which was not supposed to be there in the first place,” he said, underscoring the deadly consequences of illegal settlements in unsafe areas. The tragedy claimed the lives of three family members, 60-year-old woman, a 24-year-old woman, and a toddler. Six people were inside the house at the time of the collapse, Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (JEMS) reported.
Emergency crews arrived shortly after 3 a.m., rescuing three people from the rubble and transporting them to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. “Two adult women and a child survived, but three of our family members did not make it,” said one relative, speaking to The Star.
