A devastating shack fire in the early hours of Monday, 26 May 2025, has claimed the lives of six family members in the Marikana informal settlement, Ekurhuleni. Only one survivor, a young girl, remains in critical condition.
Ekurhuleni emergency services spokesperson William Tladi confirmed that the blaze broke out around 3:08 AM, completely consuming a four-room shack where the family of seven had been asleep. Despite frantic efforts by neighbors using buckets and water containers, the flames had already caused irreversible damage by the time emergency crews arrived.
Among the deceased are two toddlers, aged one and a half and four, two older children aged 12 and 20, and their parents, a 42-year-old mother and a 47-year-old father. All were found burnt beyond recognition, making identification a difficult and emotional task for both authorities and surviving family members.
“It’s difficult for us now to identify who is who,” said Tladi. “Just a little bit of one or two of them can be identified by the families. But we do have the names of the entire family and their ages. We’re working carefully and delicately to recover their remains from beneath the rubble, one by one.”
The only survivor, believed to be a seven-year-old girl, was found with severe burn injuries and was rushed privately to a hospital. She remains in critical condition, and medical staff are doing everything possible to save her life.
Fortunately, the layout of the informal settlement prevented the fire from spreading further. Tladi noted that the restructured settlement, which includes more spacing between homes, helped contain the blaze to the single structure. “While the four-roomed shack burned down completely, the neighboring structures survived,” he said.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown, and investigations are underway. Police and forensic experts are on the scene, working to determine how the fire started and to ensure a full recovery of the victims’ remains. The bodies have been transported to a pathology facility for further analysis.
This incident is part of a troubling pattern of fatal fires in informal settlements across Gauteng. Just days ago, a similar tragedy occurred in Boksburg, where one man died and multiple homes were threatened due to limited access for fire engines caused by narrow roads and illegal overhead electrical wiring. Another fire in Mayfair took the lives of four children under the age of two, leaving families in grief and communities in shock.
These repeated incidents raise serious concerns about safety in informal settlements and the urgent need for better infrastructure, fire prevention measures, and emergency response planning. As the investigation continues, the community mourns the lives lost in this heartbreaking event. Authorities are calling for calm and urging residents to cooperate with ongoing efforts to prevent future tragedies.