Zandspruit fire victims receive help

Residents of Zandspruit who were left destitute after a fire gutted a large number of shacks on 19 June have been receiving much-needed help from neighbouring communities.

Following the disastrous fire which destroyed about 28 shacks, neighbouring community members, organisations and the Ward 114 PR councillor, Belinda Echeozonjoku, rallied to help those who had lost everything.

Shenan Cochrane, a member of the executive committee at the Muldersdrift Fire Protection Association (FPA) (1st Aid and Fire Training), jumped into action after the incident, and made a few calls to bring some relief to the affected.

Firstly, she called the person who runs the Checkers Mobile Soup Kitchen to assist with hot meals for the victims. The FPA then circulated messages to the Muldersdrift community for donations of clothes, blankets, food, household items, etc.

“The Feed Shop on Beyers Naudé Drive kindly agreed to act as the donation depot,” she said.

“The Muldersdrift FPA Exco, together with councillor Belinda, Odette from The 2nd Hand Shop, and staff from The Feed Shop sorted the donations into crates and took them into Zandspruit, where they were distributed to the victims. The Checkers Soup Kitchen handed out buckets of food to victims and served meals to over 400 people,” Shenan explained.

A thankful Belinda reflected on the intervention. “We received quite generous donations from the Muldersdrift community members, from clothes to food, which we handed over to the affected residents. I was quite overwhelmed by the generosity of our people,” she said.

She added that this was just the first batch of donations as the families still need more. “The families are still in need of blankets, food, baby clothes and building material – to at least rebuild their lives,” she said.

Some donations are expected to be made this weekend, according to Belinda.

She appealed to anyone able to assist with building materials like cement and building sand to contact her on 084 970 0509.