Shimmering foil covered the bodies of three children who were crushed by a wall in Davis Street in Doornfontein‚ on Monday morning.

Their mothers sat next to their bodies‚ their heads covered in doeks with blankets draped over their shoulders.

The wall of the yard of a dilapidated building they called home tumbled down shortly after midday as the children played on the street‚ crushing them to death.

One man told TimesLIVE he saw the wall collapse.</s>Shimmering foil covered the bodies of three children who were crushed by a wall in Davis Street in Doornfontein‚ on Monday morning.

Their mothers sat next to their bodies‚ their heads covered in doeks with blankets draped over their shoulders.

The wall of the yard of a dilapidated building they called home tumbled down shortly after midday as the children played on the street‚ crushing them to death.

One man said he saw the wall collapse.

“I was near the collapsed wall‚ about two metres away from it‚ playing with my two-year-old nephew‚” said Bongani Sithole.

“I saw the wall come down and I dragged my nephew. He was hit by some bricks on his leg but he survived‚” said Sithole who was still visibly shaken by the incident.

“The wall has had a large crack for some time but we didn’t think this would happen‚” he said.

“We don’t know what triggered the fall‚” Sithole said.

He said he had heard the children scream as the wall fell on them.

“The sound of the wall... It sounded like a big car crash‚” Sithole said.

The distraught man said he knew all of the victims.

“I don’t know if I can still live here‚” he said.

The mothers of the children sat on the tar road amid the stench of sewage‚ with heaps of rubbish and piles of bricks near them‚ waiting for the bodies to be collected.

The women huddled together as they engaged in conversation among themselves and officials.

Scores of people peered from the police red and white tape while others stood on the rooftops of some buildings‚ watching the scene below.

The street was filled with scores of children who were to return to school later this week for the start of the new school term.

“That could have been my child‚” one woman in the crowd said‚ holding onto her little daughter with her bare feet and her uncombed hair.</s>At least three children playing in a rundown section of Johannesburg's inner city suburb of Doornfontein died on Monday‚ after a wall collapsed.

Police and the city's emergency services are on the scene.

The buildings in the area‚ which include a spaza shop‚ appear to be dilapidated and potentially hazardous.

This is a breaking story‚ more to follow shortly</s>JOHANNESBURG - Three children have been killed in a wall collapse in Doornfontein, in Johannesburg.

Officials say the children, aged between three and 10, were playing near the wall earlier on Monday when it caved in on Davies Street.

They died on the scene.

Emergency Services Robert Mulaudzi said: “Our resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and they were later confirmed dead on the scene. At the moment, we’re trying to remove some unstable walls so that we can prevent the second collapse of that building.”</s>Shimmering foil covered the bodies of three children who were crushed by a wall in Davis Street in Doornfontein‚ on Monday morning.

Their mothers sat next to their bodies‚ their heads covered in doeks with blankets draped over their shoulders.

The wall of the yard of a dilapidated building they called home tumbled down shortly after midday as the children played on the street‚ crushing them to death.

One man told TimesLIVE he saw the wall collapse.

“I was near the collapsed wall‚ about two metres away from it‚ playing with my two-year-old nephew‚” the man‚ who did not want to be named‚ said.</s>Three young children aged three, five and ten were killed on Monday afternoon in Doornfontein, Joburg, after a wall in an abandoned warehouse building in which they were living collapsed. Picture: Nokuthula Mbatha/ANA

JOHANNESBURG - Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba on Monday, said that the children killed in a wall collapse of an abandoned building in the inner city were playing when the accident happened.

Three young children died and two others were rushed to hospital on Monday after a wall in an abandoned warehouse building in which they were living collapsed around 12.30pm on the corner of Davis Street and Rockey Street in Doornfontein in downtown Johannesburg.

The three deceased were aged three, five and 10, while the two injured children were aged five and six. They were declared dead on the scene.

"Two girls ages three, five, and a 10 year-old boy were playing on the pavement outside the building when one of the walls collapsed on them. Fire fighters are still unclear of what caused the collapse but speculate that the lack of maintenance and aged structure of the building resulted in the collapse," Mashaba said.

"The building was occupied by mostly foreign nationals who had built shacks inside the premises. About 30 families have been safely removed from the building and the Department of Public Safety's Disaster Management team are assisting the displaced."

Mashaba, who extended his condolences to the families of the deceased children, said that firefighters will be knocking down the rest of the building to ensure that it does not collapse any further.

He added that there were far too many residents living in derelict and unsafe buildings and the slum-like conditions infringed on their right to dignity.

"Tragically, there are hundreds of derelict buildings in the inner city of Johannesburg. Some of these properties have been abandoned and owners cannot be traced. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the city to ensure compliance with applicable by-laws, which in turn contributes to the degradation of the urban environment," Mashaba said.

"On 26 February 2018, I wrote to the former minister of public works, Mr Nathi Nhleko, to request that an agreement be concluded with the department of public works, in which the department will name the city as its nominee for the transfer of these abandoned properties in Johannesburg.

"To date, I have not heard back from the former or current minister, Mr Thulas Nxesi."

Mashaba said that he had sent a follow-up letter to Nxesi on Monday morning before the tragedy, imploring that his department and the city work together in the best interests of residents.

ALSO READ: PICS: Three children killed after wall collapses in abandoned Joburg building

"It is vital that the different spheres of government work together with civil society and other stakeholders to ensure that we sustainably address the human crisis occurring in the inner city of Johannesburg. In doing so we can help to prevent such tragedies from reoccurring," Mashaba said.

Member of mayoral committee (MMC) for public safety, Michael Sun meanwhile, also said that he was aggrieved by the death of such innocent young lives.

"This incident is a devastating tragedy. Our Disaster Management team are on site and will be assisting the displaced with food, clothing, blankets and temporary accommodation," Sun said.

The owner of the building also arrived at the scene to see the damage and stated that the reason for the lack of maintenance was due to the dispute that has been going on regarding the rightful owner of the building.</s>Three children were killed when an unstable wall collapsed in a building that their families had been occupying in Johannesburg's inner city, City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services said on Monday.

The incident happened between 12:00 and 13:00 on Monday.

EMS spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi said: "We are here in Doornfontein, in the inner city of Johannesburg. A wall collapsed and in the process... three children between the ages of three and 10 lost their lives."

"It is an abandoned building and the walls are unstable. We are trying to remove the other unstable walls so that [they do] not collapse."

Mulaudzi said Gauteng police were investigating the incident.</s>Three young children died and two others were rushed to hospital on Monday afternoon after a wall in an abandoned warehouse building in which they were living collapsed in Doornfontein in downtown Johannesburg, the City of Johannesburg said.

The three deceased were aged three, five and 10, while the two injured children were aged five and six.

City of Johannesburg firefighters said about 30 shacks have been cramped into the abandoned warehouse building at the corner of Davies and Rockey streets. This is the part of town where the illegal occupation of abandoned buildings is rife.

Johannesburg emergency services said they suspected the building which had been illegal occupied collapsed due to its age and a lack of maintenance. The building has since been evacuated and all the displaced will be assisted by the City’s Disaster Management team.

City Mayor Herman Mashaba, who rushed to the scene after hearing of the structural collapse, said such tragedies could be avoided through fast-tracking the process to reclaim abandoned buildings.

“This type of tragedy could be avoided if the process of the expropriation of abandoned buildings is sped up. These children lost their lives so tragically because our residents don’t have safe places to call home,” Mashaba said.

“This is what so-called human rights lawyers fight for – the right for people to live wherever and in any kind of structure despite the dangers. Where are they now to defend this tragedy? How many children should die?”

Mashaba and Johannesburg member of the mayoral committee for public safety, Michael Sun, received confirmation that the wall has to be brought down, and that the displaced community of the building would be assisted by the Disaster Management team.

The owner of the building also arrived at the scene to see the damage and stated that the reason for the lack of maintenance was due to the dispute that has been going on regarding the rightful owner of the building.</s>Johannesburg - An organisation representing families living in an abandoned Doornfontein building whose wall collapsed on Monday, killing three children, blasted the City of Johannesburg for failing to provide safe alternative accommodation for destitute residents.

This comes hours after three children died while two others were rushed to hospital after a wall in an abandoned warehouse building in which they were living collapsed in downtown Johannesburg.

The three deceased were aged three, five and 10, while the two injured children were aged five and six.

City of Joburg firefighters said about 30 shacks were cramped in the abandoned warehouse building at the corner of Davies and Rockey streets.

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) in a statement said it had been asking the City of Joburg for emergency accommodation for eight months, but none had been provided.

"The residents have been aware that the building is unsafe for some time. Since mid-2017, SERI has been pressing the city to provide the residents with emergency accommodation, which would have allowed them to move out of the dangerous building to safer accommodation elsewhere.

ALSO READ: PICS: Three children killed after wall collapses in abandoned Joburg building

"In July 2017, city officials produced a report for mayor Herman Mashaba, strongly recommending that the residents be provided with alternative accommodation. The city did an audit of the residents in August 2017. Yet, for eight months thereafter, the City has taken no steps to provide the residents with a safe alternative. The residents were left in unsafe accommodation as a result.

SERI added that: "The residents are just 300 of an estimated 100 000 people living in abandoned properties in the inner-city, many in unsafe conditions. The occupiers of these properties are forced to live in abandoned buildings because they cannot afford to rent or buy housing on the private market, and the city has failed to provide affordable rental housing or shelter accommodation for them.

"The city has a Constitutional duty to provide the residents of 39 to 41 Davies Street, and people like them, with affordable, safe alternative accommodation, but has consistently failed to do so. The city’s plans are to provide a mere 364 new beds in temporary accommodation this year. That is a tiny fraction of what is required to cater for poor people living in Johannesburg’s abandoned buildings."

Adding to this was SERI’s director of litigation Nomzamo Zondo, who said: “The city must do better. It is not acceptable that there is literally no accommodation available for people, such as the residents, who are living in profoundly unsafe conditions.

"Tragedies like today’s wall collapse could be avoided if the City allocated more resources to basic, safe and decent accommodation to very poor people, such as the residents of Davies Street, as it is legally required to do”.</s>
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A wall collapses onto playing children in Doornfontein, South Africa, killing three.