10% of settlement fires arson

2005-04-21 19:39

Cape Town - As many as one in ten fires in informal settlements and poor communities are caused by arsonists, national assembly housing committee chair Zou Kota said on Thursday.

Kota was speaking to Sapa after a parliamentary media briefing, at which she said the SA Police Service appeared reluctant to investigate arson cases in such communities.

"We are saying it's not only paraffin (stoves) that causes fires... they are also a criminal act. There is a criminal element to them," she told journalists.

Forensic investigations were needed into the cause of fires in informal settlements.

"A concern ... was it seemed as if the South African Police Service don't want to open up cases (in these communities) as far as fires are concerned.

"Definitely, there is a criminal element as well. There is human error, but there is also an element of criminal activity, which needs to be investigated.

"At the moment, because we don't have evidence in place, it's very difficult to point fingers," she said.

Asked to define the "criminal element" she had referred to, Kota said it did not include those who were negligent and left, for example, a paraffin stove or a candle unattended.

This could be termed an accident.

"It's when people come up with a very strange attitude, and decide to do those things (start a fire).

Nobody knows what reason goes through people's minds. That's what we call a criminal element," she said.

Asked if she was referring to arsonists, she said: "Arson, yes, that's what we're talking about."

Asked later what percentage of fires were the result of arson, she said it was a "small percentage, not more than one in ten".

- SAPA