Kayamandi burns again, aid is urgently needed

Kayamandi in Stellenbosch has been struck by fire for the third time in about 10 years.

The fire started last night 14 March 2013 in one of the shacks, and proceeded to obliterate just about the entire shanty town.

The estimate of  people affected is around 5000.

All of these people have lost their homes, their clothing, their living utilities such as cooking utilities, fridges, tools, electronic devices, mattresses, blankets, beds, cupboards, everything basically.


How can I  be of assistance?

The Stellenbosch Disaster Aid  is situated at the Stellenbosch Fire Station. From this central point all donations will be collected and distributed in an orderly fashion to the affected people in Zone Zero.

Mr Bernie Treptow from relief life (www.relieflife.org) has explained to a group of NGO's that it will be unwise to simply arrive at Kayamandi with any form of aid, if you do not already have a personal relationship with the people you are helping. The dilemma is that the help (labor, food or building material) has to go to the right people (in zone zero), as opportunism quickly becomes a problem, and the situation could lead to serious conflicts.

The official channel for aid is the Stellenbosch Fire Station, they are trained to deal with the immediate needs.

The need is great and supplies will be very welcome.

Here are some guidelines for short term aid:

• Blankets
• Mattresses
• Canned food
• Maize
• Clothing
• Building material (wood, poles, iron sheets and nails)

Please do not provide cooked food, or any spoil-able food items, as this could potentially lead to food poisoning (this has happened in the past).


Financial Contributions:

If you cannot find a way to get aid items to the Stellenbosch Fire Station, and you would like to make a financial contribution, such a contribution can be made at www.relieflife.org. Please just add the words 'Kayamandi Aid' to the description.


Future updates:

I will go to the scene in a couple of days again, and take some more pics, chat to people etc, and report back with more posts. I added an RSS subscription to this blog if you would like to stay updated...


Some more fotos of victims I met today: