RETIRED Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe, who chaired the commission of inquiry into the deadly fire that gutted the Usindiso building in the Joburg CBD, is ready to hand over the report on part A investigations to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
This section of the report examined the circumstances surrounding the fire incident at Usindiso building.
Initially, investigations were meant to begin on 1 October but were later pushed to 26 October due to "teething" problems and challenges.
But with investigations out of the way, Lesufi will make the report public on Sunday, 5 May in Midrand, Gauteng.
Jumping dead bodies
Over the past five months since the start of the inquiry, Daily Sun saw various victims of the fire take the stand to share how they escaped the blaze while jumping bodies, with others detailing how they had to leave their loved ones behind.
Some of those testimonies came from former tenant at Usindiso and survivor Musa Hamisi, who detailed how his pregnant girlfriend (22) was found in the toilet, already dead after she had collapsed on the floor.
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To this day, her body hasn't been found.
Another victim, Mike Ngube, now lives with the pain of losing his entire family and the burn wounds all over his body. His wife and one-year-and-four-month-old daughter died from smoke inhalation when the building caught fire in 2023
While Mike's wife has since been buried, his daughter’s remains are yet to be exhumed and brought back to him after she was buried by an unknown family.
A ticking time bomb
The SunTeam also heard how the Usindiso building was a ticking time bomb waiting explode even before the fire.
Before the building was hijacked and turned into a hiding place for criminals, it was once a shelter for abused women and children managed by Usindiso Ministries director, Pastor Jay Bradley.
What was to become of the shelter after Bradley's decision to leave saw many homeless women and shack dwellers paying rent to a so-called Zulu man who allegedly threatened them with a gun.
Possible causes of the fire
With so many trails of pain, trauma and sorrow, Mzansi will soon know the reason behind the fire which claimed many lives on that fateful day.
