29 July 2026
Cape Town firefighters extinguishing a fire that destroyed about 60 homes in Madiba Square in Mandela Park, Imizamo Yethu, on Wednesday morning. Photos: Ashraf Hendricks
Hundreds of people have been left homeless after about 60 homes were destroyed when a fire ripped through a section of Madiba Square in Mandela Park in Imizamo Yethu.
Sonica Lategan, the Disaster Risk Management spokesperson for the City of Cape Town, said no injuries or deaths had been reported.
When GroundUp arrived on Wednesday morning, firefighters were still dousing the last of the embers. Some residents were sorting through what was left of their belongings. Others were clearing sheets of charred corrugated metal to make space to rebuild their homes.
Community leader Nonzame Ludwele’s home was partly burnt in the fire on Wednesday.
“When I woke up around 6:45am I heard crying and someone saying they need water because there is a fire,” said Nonzame Ludwele, a community leader whose house was damaged by the blaze.
“Everything burnt down. People’s stuff, including mine.”
Ludwele said this is not the first time their homes have been destroyed by a fire in recent weeks. She said most people had not yet been able to replace their furniture after the previous fire. “We’re breathing and living in fires here.”
Many residents who lost everything had nowhere to sleep, she said.
About 60 houses were destroyed in the blaze. Once the fire was put out, people began salvaging what they could.
Most people living in the area are unemployed and don’t have money to rebuild their homes and replace their essential documents.
“We are asking the City to help us as well as other organisations,” said Ludwele.
Another resident Nomonde Sonqwelo said it was the third time her house had burnt down. “I lost everything.” Her identity documents, her appliances and her children’s clothes had all been lost, she said.
Her three children would have to sleep at a relative’s home nearby until she and her husband figured out how to rebuild their home, she said.
Nomonde Sonqwelo said it was the third time her house had burnt down.
Most fire victims GroundUp spoke to said they can’t afford to rebuild their homes.
