​Lerato Mailoane
Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi has welcomed the first part of the report into the inquiry on the fire at Usindiso building in Johannesburg.
The Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deadly inferno which claimed the lives of at least 77 people.
The tragic building fire occurred in August last year and caused an outcry for the City of Johannesburg to deal with the issue of inner-city housing.
Addressing the media ahead of the release on Sunday, Premier Lesufi said he was impressed with the work done despite serious challenges but they managed to deliver the report within deadline of 30 April 2024.
"When we established this commission, we received a lot of complaints...as the country is commission fatigued. You can't have 77 people die and we just move on.
"I feel vindicated to have gone through this route, as we would have not known who caused the fire, we would have not known the motive behind the fire and we can now give families closure," said Lesufi.
The commission was chaired by Justice Sisi Khampepe.
The Commission was established to inquire, with expedition, into the circumstances surrounding the fire at Usindiso Building and generally the prevalence of buildings or immovable properties in the Johannesburg Central Business District being abandoned by their legitimate landlords or owners and taken over by criminal syndicates or other groups.   These buildings are  leased out to and populated with tenants, who do not have the means to afford other forms of housing, without providing basic services such as water, electricity, refuse removal and sanitation and paying rates and taxes.
Releasing the report, Justice Khampepe said the building was erected in 1954 by the Johannesburg municipality as the pass office for natives, and went on to be managed by the Joburg Property Company Ltd (JPC). It was later taken over by Usindiso Ministries and for 10 years was used as a shelter for abused women before it was abandoned in 2017. 
She outlined how proper processes were not followed at the time to properly convert it  to a residential building. 
"Then some people forcibly entered the building and they were later forcibly removed. In early 2019 the City of Joburg, Home Affairs and the police raided the building and found the distressing living conditions in the building that contributed to the devastation of the fire," Khampepe said. 
Justice Kampempe said the building had a lot of violations with residents using firefighting equipment to bring drinking water into the building, illegal electricity connections which were uncovered, shacks erected inside the building, evacuation features blocked by living spaces, chains and locks securing emergency doors to protect the residents and their possessions from outsiders and the entire building was crime infested.
Despite this, she said the City of Joburg and the JPC never repaired or managed the building, despite being aware of the situation since 2019. Evidence of the contravention of city bylaws including things like fire doors being welded shut, illegal water and electricity connections, mounting uncollected waste inside and around the building and the flouting of all emergency regulations had gone unaddressed. 
"The City of Joburg failed to prevent or eliminate any of these hazards, they allowed the violation of public health bylaws, building regulations and all the other steps that would have mitigated the impact of the fire had they been compliant," Khampepe said. 
The cause of the fire was identified as arson after a witness confessed to having strangled a man in the building and then bought some petrol, doused the corpse and set fire to it in an effort to conceal evidence of the murder. 
The commission recommends that the building be destroyed and a plaque is erected in memory of the victims of the fire.
In response, Premier Lesufi said he had already alerted Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda on the contents of the report, which would be formally delivered to the City of Joburg on Monday morning. 
The second part of the report, which will deal with the way forward and the timelines that must be adhered to, will be released on May 13.