Political figures paid a brief visit to the site of the Johannesburg building fire on Thursday, seeking an opportunity to take aim at the ANC.
The fire killed 73 people with at least 53 injured.
While families waited to identify if their loved ones had perished, several politicians saw an opportunity.
Opposition political leaders criticised the ruling ANC for allowing the city to reach this point.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said this was bound to happen as the ANC government has allowed lawlessness to continue in the city.
Mashaba said he identified over 6,000 hijacked buildings across all regions of the city.
"People in some of these buildings are living in appalling conditions," he said.
He accused the ANC of benefitting from the hijacked buildings in the city.
Hijacked buildings refers to abandoned sites that have been overtaken by people.
He said the national government is aware of what is happening in the city.
"As a country, let us not allow the ANC to continue running this country to its detriment," he said.
Music Maimane of Build One South Africa (BOSA) said the tragedy is a result of the corrupt government led by the ruling ANC.
He stressed that the incident should not be blamed on immigrants as some would suggest.
"This tragedy should not be the cause of xenophobia but a wake-up call for the ruling party to root out corruption among its deploys," said Maimane.
Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said it is unacceptable that when the police raid these buildings, the occupants are not found.
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"A few weeks ago, the minister of police was in the city conducting Operation Shanela which included the inspection of hijacked buildings in the city. Such operations will continue," she said.
Kenny Kunene of the Patriotic Alliance claimed there are several different races and ethnicities that take over abandoned buildings.
"We have hijackers of Greek origin, Indians, English-speaking Afrikaaners and other kingpins from other parts of the African continent who are in the country illegally," he said.
Bonginkosi W Dhlamini of the IFP said the IFP maintains that this latest incident points to the City of Johannesburg's failure to properly accommodate the urban poor.
"The city needs to do the right thing and provide decent and affordable housing within the city," he said.
