President Cyril Ramaphosa CANCELS Nation Address to visit Joburg CBD fire disaster

President Cyril Ramaphosa abruptly cancelled his Nation Address this evening, Thursday, 31 August, to attend to the Joburg CBD fire disaster.

BUILDING DISASTER FORCES PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA TO CANCEL NATION ADDRESS

Last night, Wednesday, 30 August, an abandoned building crammed with hundreds of people, claimed the lives of 73 occupants, including children when the building caught alight.

Emergency services have been working around the clock to rescue and retrieve bodies from the scene.

• ALSO READ: Johannesburg CBD fire: the scene in pictures
• ALSO READ: Johannesburg fire: Death toll increases to 73, cause still unknown

PRESIDENCY ANNOUNCES CYRIL RAMAPHOSA’S SITE VISIT

In a brief statement by the Presidency, the statement read:
“In view of the fire disaster in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his address to the nation. The President will, this afternoon, conduct a site visit  to Marshalltown to receive a briefing on the emergency and recovery operations and on the support the government is providing to the affected families.”

ADDRESS TO THE NATION CANCELLED, PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA ATTENDS TO JOHANNESBURG FIRE DISASTER
 
In view of the fire disaster in Johannesburg, President @CyrilRamaphosa has cancelled his address to the nation.

The President will, this afternoon, conduct a site visit to… https://t.co/wgWmSAmHIb

— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) August 31, 2023

It is unclear whether President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived on the scene for his site visit.

ALSO READ: Johannesburg CBD fire: ‘there are shacks inside the building’

ACTIONSA LEADER POINTS FINGERS

So far, among the leaders on the scene, was ActionSA President Herman Mashaba who blamed Non-profit organisations and the ANC for rejecting his mission to take over hijacked and dilapidated building during his tenure as the City of Johannesburg Mayor under the DA-led administration.

“During my tenure as Mayor of the City of Johannesburg between 2016 to 2019, I fought against the hijacking of buildings and repeatedly warned of the possible dangers they pose. However, my administration’s efforts to crack down on hijacked and dilapidated buildings in the Johannesburg Inner-city were sidetracked by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the ANC government,” he said.

ALSO READ: Joburg CBD fire: Former Mayor Herman Mashaba recalls fruitless fight against hijacked buildings

As a solution,  Funzi Ngobeni, ActionSA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, said: “The State should also expedite processes to reclaim these buildings to avoid similar disasters from taking place in the future. The people living in these buildings deserve better than the squalor they have been forced to live in”.

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