Hundreds of refugees, who were already facing eviction, have lost their shelter

Hundreds of refugees have lost their shelter and belongings after a fire broke out at their emergency tented accommodation at Wingfield in Maitland, Cape Town, on Thursday afternoon.

The fire broke out at about 5pm. City emergency services and Gift of the Givers teams were on the site soon after.

At the time of writing, the cause of the fire is unknown.

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The group living at the tent were among the hundreds of refugees who protested outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Cape Town in October 2019, demanding to be resettled in countries other than South Africa. The tent was set up as an emergency temporary shelter. Yet the refugee group had been living here since 2020.

Gift of the Givers said they were inundated with calls for assistance from community leaders. "The settlement has been destroyed, leaving hundreds of people homeless," a statement by the charity organisation said. "Hot meals and bottled water will be distributed this evening once the fire department extinguishes the remaining flare-ups."

Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the City's Disaster Risk Management Centre, said the centre was coordinating efforts to assist those affected.

"Structures on the perimeter of the site are intact," Powell said. The City is trying to organise places for people at shelters.

No injuries or fatalities have been reported.

The City and the national home affairs and public works departments filed a joint application at the Cape High Court in June and served eviction notices to the occupants of the site in August. The occupants opposed the application. The matter is expected to be heard in court in April 2026.

Also read: City of Cape Town to evict refugees living at two emergency housing sites