Deporting Marshalltown fire survivors not in interest of justice, says lawyer

A fire engine is seen extinguishing a fire at a building in Marshalltown in the Johannesburg CBD on 31 August 2023.

JOHANNESBURG – The lawyers representing the Marshalltown fire survivors said the deportation of undocumented migrants who stayed at the uSindiso building was not in the interest of justice.

In August, a fire ripped through the five-storey building in the inner city of Johannesburg, killing over 70 people and displacing hundreds more.

Law firm, Norton Rose Fullbright, is challenging the Home Affairs Department’s application to have 32 of the survivors deported.

The legal team argues that the survivors should be kept in the country until the conclusion of the commission of inquiry looking into the deadly blaze.

READ: COJ given 3 months to improve living conditions of Marshalltown fire survivors

While Home Affairs and the Marshalltown fire victims support group battle it out in court, the 32 undocumented migrants are being kept at the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp.

The lawyers said some of the people detained were likely to be key witnesses in the commission of inquiry into the Marshalltown fire.

Candice Pillay from Norton Rose Fulbright, a law firm that is representing the survivors, said deporting the victims would render the commission’s evidence insufficient.

“As much as they are unlawful in the country, they are witnesses in the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry. We asked the Home Affairs Department to keep them at Lindela until the commission is over, which they have refused to do.”

On Thursday, the Johannesburg High Court will announce whether or not the 32 Marshalltown fire survivors will be deported.

If not, they’ll remain in the country until the commission concludes its work next year.

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