A Tragic Fire and Broken Promises in South Africa

from The New York Times I'm Sabrina. tavernice and this is the daily. [Music]. a devastating fire in Johannesburg last. week is Raising troubling questions. about chaos and dysfunction in Africa's. richest city. today my colleague Lindsay shutell on. how the city that was once a symbol of.

the hope of post-apartheid South Africa. is now an emblem of just how bad the. breakdown has become. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music]. it's Friday September 8th. [Music]. so Lindsay tell me about the fire you've. been reporting on in Johannesburg which. as it turns out is the deadliest.

residential fire in South African. history. so last Thursday at about one o'clock in. the morning. [Music]. smoke began to rise from this downtown. building. and by the time I woke up massive blaze. in the Johannesburg CBD this morning it. is a very quickly developing story that. it was all over the news firefighters. rushed to the five-story building now. they are still searching through the. building for more victims and the day. talk Uprising hour by hour when I first.

turned on the TV it was about 20 people. then it was 40 people then it was 60. people and then by the end of the day it. was 77 people and I'd rushed down to the. side and the bodies were laid out in the. street you can literally see that the. bodies have been covered with metal. sheeting with blankets people who had. run out of the building was sitting. there in shock on the sidewalk and it. was just a scene of such Devastation. this is the building itself you can see. that it's it's burned from the back it's. burned from the front and up here you.

can see some of the residents who were. desperately trying to get out had left a. mattress there and were were jumping. from the top floors. even though the fire had been brought. under control by the Morning by the time. the sun came up there was still smoke. coming from the building and there were. just crowds and crowds of people and. what we realized is that these weren't. onlookers these were people who lived. inside this building so up to about 600. people possibly even more just standing. there their entire lives just in ruin.

any nimbles quite frankly. foreign. as someone who's from Johannesburg how. did you understand what had happened. what did it look like to you it felt. horribly inevitable. so we have had a series of disasters in. Johannesburg and we've kind of just. quickly moved on from them for example a.

few weeks ago a street quite literally. exploded in downtown Johannesburg cars. flew up into the air and thank goodness. God there were very few fatalities and. you would think that seeing a giant. crack on a main road would shock people. but it didn't by day two people had. returned to their homes They carried on. they couldn't off the road and that. tells you something about what. Johannesburg is as a city in the last. few years we've seen Johannesburg slowly.

decaying becoming worse and worse every. day and for those of us particularly. South Africans I hope you're wondering. is if the economic capital of the most. prosperous part of the country which is. one of the most advanced economies in. Africa. if you can't keep that City running what. is the race to this country look like. and what is the Hope for the rest of the. country quite frankly. okay so let's talk about that how did. Johannesburg get here walk me through it. bring me back to those hopeful early.

days. so Johannesburg is a relatively young. City it was when gold was discovered. here in 1886 that everybody rushed here. and everybody from Eastern Europe all. the way to China came to find their. lives here and to make their fortunes. here it was an incredibly diverse City. but ironically it's also where apartheid. began that is the system of segregation. with black and white and all races were. kept separately and this is where Nelson. Mandela the iconic Freedom Fighter began.

this fight against departed and this was. with the sight of so much violence and. political struggle and pain it is my. great pleasure to announce. the president of the Republic. of South Africa Mr Nelson Mandela. then came 1994. out of the experience. extraordinary human disaster.

that lasted too long. must upon a society of which all. Humanity. will be proud. departed ends and South Africa becomes a. democracy and Johannesburg sits at the. center that is the crown jewel of what. South Africa could be. neighborhoods are integrating schools. are integrating and For Better or For. Worse shopping malls are popping up all. over during the early 90s late 2000s and.

they've got class ceilings and Cinemas a. Big Mac has made it to South Africa and. there's a McDonald's hamburger giant is. planning to open another restaurant this. month then 15 more next year and in. Dalton Johannesburg at this time even. though white businesses and white. families fled the inner city feared in. crime they were replaced with migrants. who came from all over the continent. from as far as Nigeria Ethiopia. Mozambique Zimbabwe would all come.

bringing their hopes to Johannesburg and. so it becomes this Multicultural diverse. economic Powerhouse that just draws. people from everywhere. [Music]. and then in 2010 the decision. was taken after only one round. FIFA announces that 2010 FIFA World Cup. will be organized in South Africa.

the first African World Cup will be held. in South Africa that's uniting people at. at the evening it's Freedom it's. everything I just love it and it's a. real sense of optimism because your. stadiums are going up hotels are going. up very well down to South Africa I've. never thought they could do it but I did. it man they did it I feel it from there. and it's this beautiful moment of what. South Africa could be we feel safe on. the trains and coming here it's a it's a.

good vibe at the moment hopefully it can. carry on after that. but beyond the World Cup things began to. fall apart and that's where the. disappointment begins to sit in. so walk me through that what changed so. at this point the party of Nelson. Mandela the African National Congress is. still in power. but we're beginning to see a different. side of that party. [Music].

this party that had these Grand Visions. for South Africa becomes mired in. corruption scandals from top to bottom. from the presidency all the way down to. your local Street counselor. but what that means is that the money. that should have been spent on building. schools on paying for University tuition. on building hospitals has disappeared. unemployment is rising there's an. economic crisis that is growing and it.

turns into the sense of desperation that. also drives violent crime in the city. and perhaps the most material Way South. Africans are feeling it is that we. literally find ourselves in the dark. [Music]. around about 2012 2013 rolling blackouts. become worse and worse and South. Africans learn to live with the fact. that the country is unable to supply. electricity and that is just one of the. many things that was unable to supply. and by 2019 particularly here in.

Johannesburg there was a backlash. against the African National Congress. when the voters decided that they would. not keep the ANC in power and voted them. out. foreign what happened when they were. voted out like what did that mean for. Johannesburg well what that meant was. political chaos so smaller parties. suddenly became king makers parties that. many South African voters had never even. heard of they were at the bottom of the. ballot and suddenly they became the.

Swing Vote and these parties within Abel. to form Coalition governments but those. Coalition governments were so rickety. that Johannesburg has had six Mayors in. the last two years alone wow a mayor for. each season precisely I bit you if you. asked any Joe Burger who the mayor is. they're not quite sure themselves and so. at this point what that means is who do. you call when you're in trouble who do. you call when Services aren't working. a couple weeks ago the copper cables on.

my streets were stolen copper cables. have become a great underground business. and so people rip out the copper wiring. and and it's sold a scrap metal and that. means that in your stage you will not. have electricity in my case for up to a. week wait the copper cable in your. street was stolen like from City. power lines. from city power lines so what happens is. because we have these rolling blackouts. there's no electricity running through. the copper cables and that is the.

perfect time to rip them out of the. ground to rip them out of power stations. and to sell them God Scrap Metal and. it's not just the copper theft it is the. trash collection then the heaps of trash. that are piling up around the city there. are these huge crater sized potholes and. terrifyingly in a city with high crime. the street lights don't work in so many. neighborhoods and that's what led me to. start reporting on the decay of. Johannesburg and just exactly what was. happening and back in May my colleague.

Joelle Silva the photographer and I. actually end up at 80 Albert Street. which is the building that is now burnt. and become the center of such an awful. tragedy and what I found was hijacked. building okay what exactly is a hijacked. building like I think of a plane or a. car when you use the word hijack. and that's nearly exactly what it is so. what happens is that you have a building. that is seen as vulnerable a building. where the landlord is missing where it's.

clear that there are no there's nobody. taking care of this building and so what. you'll find is that groups of criminals. or groups of gangs sometimes will walk. into a building and start taking over. rooms and they'll take over a room. they'll say we live here now and Under. Pressure violence the people who do live. there or people who want to move in they. start collecting rent. so the landlord is completely kicked out. and people criminals will collect rent. for these buildings in which there is. often no running water no electricity no.

fire escapes no trash collection and the. worst part is that there are dozens of. them around the city. so it's almost as if these people the. hijackers are kind of taking the. building hostage right like they have. seized it and they're extracting rent. from people. precisely you can quite literally steal. a building and have it function as a. residential building without any. oversight from the city and without any.

response from the city wow that is wild. that is wild and it is what happens is. that effect of the building that has. been hijacked is that it affects the. entire block and so the people who are. living inside because it's a mix of. people right but the easiest is for. criminals to move into these buildings. and so people walking past this building. will often be mugged they will be shot. but they are also people who can't. afford to live anywhere else and so. they're living in these conditions as. well so it's a mix of the exploitation. of johannesburg's Working Poor those.

people who came to joburg to try and. build a life and find that they can't. even afford accommodation and how many. of these buildings are there in. Johannesburg the number itself varies. the highest estimate is that it could be. as mainly as 600 but that includes empty. lots and houses because just as you can. steal a building you can also quite. literally steal someone's house. so what was this building like inside. when you went in May so I will be. completely honest I didn't go quite. inside oh no I. so the people living across the road.

warned us that we would absolutely be. robbed if we went near this building and. so we watched people going in and out. and we saw this heap of trash right at. the entrance we saw another heap of. trash on the other side of the building. sagging on the ease the windows were. broken. it was Pitch darker it was the middle of. the day but it was pitch dark inside the. building because there was no light. and there were rats scurrying around. and of course my colleague Joel Silva.

who is a well-known War photographer. indeed went back the next day because he. was determined to take a look inside and. he got only as far as the lobby if my. colleague Joel Silva only went as far as. the lobby Joel Silva is one of the most. Fearless people I know we were together. in Afghanistan it must have been pretty. bad it was a case of he didn't know who. was behind which door and that's where. the threat would be yeah walked around. the lobby and he sees exposed wire he.

sees doors hanging off the hinges and he. just remarked over and over just how. dark and unsafe the building itself was. [Music]. but in the aftermath of the fire we've. gotten the closest sins of what happened. behind those closed doors which I wasn't. able to go talking to the survivors. people who lived inside this building. and how they feared for their lives and. how even they saw that this was an. inevitability. [Music].

we'll be right back. so Lindsay you finally find out what. it's like to live in this building. because you've talked to some of the. people who live there what did they say. so the morning after the fire I go to a.

community center nearby that is housing. many of the survivors and in one of the. Halls women have been sleeping on. donated mattresses with blankets can I. come closer. and on one of those rolled up mattresses. I find a young woman and her mother her. mother's name is Pearl she's in her. early 50s. just us and next to her is her daughter. the building we used to live at lamps is.

another hijacked one they had just moved. from one hijacked building where it had. become too unsafe for them because of. the criminality in that building into. this building here and how long were you. living in the building this is the third. one they've been there for a couple. months but they said that life was hell. and it was bad it was bad. sometimes during the night would have to. wake up and lie on our stomach if they. were gunshots right in the passage it is.

bad it was bad sometimes at night we'd. hear girls screaming and you guys are. playing yes that's the worst part yes. they shared a room that was designed for. just two women on single beds there were. about four women in that room they pay. more than a thousand Rand for this. little corner of a room which is about. fifty dollars just over and they get. this money from Paul who sings the. streets and from her daughter's tuition.

fee that she gets from the state as a. college student they had no running. water and so would use water from the. fire hydrant or collect water from an. open drain. [Music]. they had no toilets and so they would. walk up to the shopping mall two to. three blocks up the road during the day. and at night when it became too unsafe.

they would relieve themselves in buckets. and keep it in the room I had to be at. home by five as long as it's not that. yet the daughter could not get into the. building after dark not because she was. afraid of what was happening outside. we'd have people rob you inside the. building but because of inside the. building. she would rush home and lock herself in. the room before sunset. today I had no electricity. [Music].

is to make a small fire in the room and. they knew this was a fire hazard and it. was an awful choice that they had to. make every day so they knew that this. building was going to be. life-threatening. [Music]. [Laughter]. [Music]. how did they describe the night of the. fire so on the night of the fire the.

daughter had been studying late and it. was too unsafe to go home so she stayed. with a friend and it was just her mom at. home and her mum Paul says roundabout. after 1am she'd gotten up and she wanted. to relieve herself ten past one then I. have decided that I must play and she. says quite frankly that something felt. off. so there was a sense of foreboding and. she began to pray then after I.

prayed what she remembers thereafter is. suddenly she heard screaming saying the. shot has been the shot has been. and people were banging on the doors and. said there's a fire there's a fire in. the building and what it seemed is that. in one of the Shacks on the ground floor. or in the lot outside this seems to have. been a fire and of course we don't know. exactly what the cause is just yet but. we do know that that fire spread rapidly.

because of the materials within this. abandoned stripped building then I just. took my clothes. I took a took a bit. walk out I locked the the bed like eight. I was playing in my heart at home my God. just protect me just show me the way. safe pulses she got out of her room but. she locked the door because she's hoping. that she's able to come back at some. point and she grabs what she can she.

says she didn't have time to grab her. daughter's school books and she runs. outside and as she's running she takes. the disc of running down the stairs you. know a lot of people were too afraid as. the fire lift up and they jumped out of. the third floor Pearl is one of the. lucky ones that made it down the stairs. but she sits on one of the floors there. was a locked door and they're crying and. she heard banging and banging and she. says it is sound that she will never. forget of a man screaming on the other. side of a locked door and she had to.

make that choice did she go and try and. free him she doesn't have a key I never. I never I just thought of myself I had. to save myself because I know that I. have a child. if I die she'll be left alone what was. running in my mind that no one who. cannot die in this fire you have to save. yourself for this child it's a choice of. does she save herself or her daughter. who she loves for. or does she run and try and save this. man who she doesn't know because the. truth is she doesn't really know her.

neighbors and so many of the people when. when I spoke to them outside they said. we didn't really know who we were living. next door to because people were in and. out there. when the people were running for our. lives did you know how far is the fire. and what is going to happen maybe he's. going to explode we just ran out she. makes the choice and she runs in the. opposite direction from the man that. we're screaming. and when she finally makes it out into. the street she looks back and the. building is a flame so I was standing.

there some of the people are throwing. themselves from the roof second floor. third floor people are dying in front of. us and people are jumping and some of. them are falling to their deaths and as. she's saying she shakes her head and. tears at just filling her eyes. but her daughter. she's hardening herself at this point. she says that quite frankly she just. wants to move on from 80 Albert Street.

I feel like all these people are. relieved that what happened happened. because they were looking for a way out. you're looking at them and they're free. and they relieved deep down inside. because it has hell. [Music]. she doesn't want to have that memory. [Music]. you said that people clearly knew that a.

fire like this was possible that these. hijacked buildings you know are a. phenomenon and that there are over 600. of them. you called this inevitable in some ways. so who's at fault here. you know when I got to the scene I asked. Amaya that same question I said. people have been calling you about this. building for years to my records at. least since May so who is at fault here. and he said while his administration is.

new everyone is at fault and that is a. catch-all because that means that no one. person will be held accountable here. because what this building represents is. a series of failures within the city and. the series of failures within the. country quite frankly so my colleague. John illegal found a trove of documents. that showed emails between City. environmental officials sending emails. to people in the health department their. colleagues in public safety their.

colleagues in the Johannesburg property. company which was the state-owned entity. that ran this company and they said we. have had inspections here at least from. 2017 they listed all the problems with. the building. and they said that this is a bad. building it is turning into an emergency. situation and we should do something. about it what we did not find is what. exactly people did about it residents. who live across the road those are the. people that I interviewed back in may. already said that they had also called.

the police they called the police when. they heard screams they called the. police when they thought there was a. murder when they saw a woman being. thrown off the third or fourth floor and. the police would come they would be. arrayed but then life would return to. normal. and it would just go right back to the. way things were and so there are all. these failures at every step and when. City officials were doing this sort of. tour around the disaster giving press. conferences giving press briefings. blaming each other I asked one of the.

city officials when was the last time. you were inside this building when it. was the last time there was an. inspection and he said to me it was in. 2019 because we couldn't risk going into. a hostile environment. hostile environment where people lived. so stepping back for a minute here. Lindsay you know going back to something. we talked about at the beginning of our. conversation Johannesburg as the symbol. of Hope and optimism that really all of. us had about South Africa back in 1994.

and now. here we have this and I mean you know I. don't want to read too much into it we. just had our own disastrous fire in the. state of Hawaii but it does seem safe to. say that this fire has shown. Johannesburg to be a symbol of something. else. what would you say it is. I think Johannesburg at this point is.

a symbol of the disappointment of what. South Africa could have been. Johannesburg has all these precincts in. which the city tried to. build and create and make it safe and. livable. but even as I was driving here I would. see a developed building and next door. was a hijacked building. every time there is one step forward. there are two to three steps back. and to be sure there are great gleaming. stretches of the city that still show.

the old promise but more and more for so. many people the city just doesn't hold. the promise that it used to. Lindsay as someone from Johannesburg. whose life has spanned this period how. do you see it. you know I grew up between apart of. Soweto and johannesburg's suburbs I was. bussed into school back and forth every. day I've traveled from one end of. Johannesburg and what I've Loved about. the city is its Innovation it's.

diversity its sense of energy and what I. am finding is that. the spirit of the city is slowly waning. and struggling. the city is struggling to Rise Above. This political disaster it's struggling. to rise above Decades of neglect and. it's struggling to rise above. what is becoming a national problem in. South Africa where it seems as if there.

is no clear path forward and it seems as. if the people who have been entrusted in. steering the city and steering the. country into this future that everybody. dreamed about in 1994. unable to do it foreign. [Music]. because we are months away from a.

pivotal election next year is not only. the 30-year anniversary of democracy in. South Africa it's also an election year. where some pundits are saying that they. believe that the AMC will go to its. lowest margin yet it will still win but. what we're seeing then is the likely. that it will be at its weakest and so. what we're questioning then is who steps. into that Gap and what I think is that. the lesson here is rather than relying.

on a political party to step into that. Gap. what I have seen in the days after the. fire is South Africans and immigrant. communities coming together to try and. help each other to feed each other to. find homes for each other to help each. other Beauty they did. and so what I hope is that South. Africans. will find their Humanity in what has. truly been an absolute tragedy and I.

hope that unlike the previous times that. Johannesburg doesn't just move on from. this one. foreign. thanks for having me. we'll be right back. here's what else you should know today. on Thursday let me tell you something. New Yorkers never in my life have I had.

a problem that I did not see in ending. to I don't see an ending to this. New York mayor Eric Adams escalated his. rhetoric over the influx of migrants to. the city claiming in Stark terms that. the crisis was existential this issue. will destroy New York City. atoms a democrat in his second year in. office has clashed with leading members. of his party as New York City has. struggled to provide housing and. services to the migrants who now number.

a hundred and ten thousand. for months he has criticized President. Biden and New York's Governor Kathy. hokel for failing to help the city but. his comments on Thursday were the most. ominous yet and Drew praise from. Republicans and condemnation from some. Democrats. and Peter Navarro a trade advisor to. former president Donald Trump was. convicted on Thursday of criminal. contempt of congress over his Defiance.

of a subpoena from the house committee. investigating the January 6 attack on. the capitol the verdict in federal. district court in Manhattan made Mr. Navarro the second top advisor of Trumps. to be found guilty of contempt for. defying the committee's inquiry Stephen. Bannon a former strategist for Mr Trump. was convicted of the same offense Last. Summer. [Music]. today's episode was produced by Claire. tennisketter Luke vanderplug and Alex. Stern it was edited by Michael Benoit.

contains original music by Marian Lozano. and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley our. theme music is by Jim brunberg and Ben. lansberg of wonderly. the daily is made by Rachel quester. Lindsey Garrison Claire tennisketter. Paige cowet Michael Simon Johnson Brad. Fisher Chris Wood Jessica Chung Stella. tan Alexandra Lee young Lisa Chao Eric.

krupke Mark George Luke vanderplug MJ. Davis Lynn Dan Powell Sydney Harper. Michael Benoit Liz o'balen Asta. chaturvedi Rachelle bancha Diana Nguyen. Marianne Lozano Corey schruppel Rob. zipko Alicia baitube zadi Patricia. willins Rowan nimisto Jody Becker Ricky. nevesky John Ketchum Nina Feldman will.

Reed Carlos Prieto Ben Calhoun Susan Lee. Lexi diao Mary Wilson Alex Stern. Dan Farrell Sophia lenmann Shannon Lin. Diane Wong Devin Taylor Alyssa Moxley. summer tamad and Olivia Nat. special thanks to Sam dolnik Paula. Schumann Lisa Tobin Larissa Anderson.

Julius Simon Sophia Milan mahima. chablani Elizabeth Davis Moore Jeffrey. Miranda renan Borelli Maddie messiello. Isabella Anderson and Nina lassim that's. it for the daily I'm Sabrina tavernisi. see you on Monday. thank you.