Residents return to building where wall collapse killed three children

Evacuated residents have returned to a property where a wall collapsed‚ killing three children in Doornfontein‚ Johannesburg‚ on Monday.

The Inner-City Gazette said that just one day after the tragedy‚ residents had returned to the building‚ where numerous tenants‚ some of whom have erected shacks in the yard‚ rent space to live.

Three children were crushed to death when a wall collapsed as they played in Davis Street outside the building on Monday. Their grieving mothers sat on the road amidst the rubble afterwards‚ waiting for the bodies to be collected.

Residents said a large crack had developed in the wall before it collapsed.

Two people who lived on the premises told Times Select that although it was a dangerous place to live‚ they had nowhere else to go. “We have no choice but to stay. We cannot afford to leave. We don’t have proper jobs to afford formal houses‚” said one woman.

City of Johannesburg MMC for public safety Michael Sun said the building needed to be torn down: “We want to demolish the building. We don’t want further injuries. It is dangerous.”

City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said in a tweet that it was disheartening that people were returning to an unsafe building‚ despite efforts by the city to place them in safe areas.