Overview
- City officials say more than 200 people lost shelter and belongings when the marquee burned on Thursday afternoon.
- The blaze started at about 5 p.m. and its cause remains under investigation, with no injuries or fatalities reported.
- The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre is coordinating assistance and seeking shelter placements as Gift of the Givers provides hot meals and water.
- Law enforcement and fire crews conducted mop-up operations Friday morning as some residents slept outside the Maitland cemetery and erected makeshift structures.
- A joint eviction application by the City and national departments was filed in June with notices served in August, and a Cape High Court hearing is scheduled for April 2026.