South African police have arrested a man who confessed to starting a fire that killed 77 people in an abandoned building in central Johannesburg last year after a drug dispute led him to strangle a man and set the body on fire, a police spokeswoman and a victims,” the advocate said Wednesday.
The man, a 29-year-old man whose name has not been released, was arrested on Tuesday on 77 counts of murder and 120 counts of attempted murder, said Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, a police spokesman in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg. . Colonel Nevhuhulwi initially gave the number as 76 counts, but later clarified that it was 77.
The man made his confession during a hearing of a special commission investigating the fire, which tore through an overcrowded five-story building in the early hours of August 31. The commission was later told that the exact number of dead was unclear due to the poor condition some of the bodies were burned.
“We were shocked when he incriminated himself,” said Andy Chinnah, a victims’ advocate who was briefed on the filing by attorneys at Norton Rose Fulbright, which is representing the victims.
In preparation for the commission’s hearing, which began last year, Mr Chinnah said he and other activists had interviewed more than 300 survivors. While there were theories that the fire could have been the result of a drug deal, a domestic dispute or an attempt to destroy bodies in the building, the suspect’s testimony seemed to come out of nowhere.
“Do I believe him?” said Mr. China. “Nothing is impossible. But right now it doesn’t make sense for a body to ignite and cause such a big fire.”
Although the evidence presented at the hearings cannot be used in a criminal investigation, the suspect told the commission that he also confessed to the police, according to Nomzamo Zondo, a lawyer who is executive director of the Institute for Socio-Economic Rights and who heard the confession of the man.
The man is due to appear in a Johannesburg court on Thursday, police said. They did not respond to a question about whether the suspect confessed to them.
Testifying at the closed-door hearing to protect his identity, the suspect said a drug dealer he worked with in the building had called him to deal with someone who had fallen out with the dealer, Mr Chinnah said. A lawyer with Norton Rose Fulbright confirmed Mr. Chinnah’s account of the testimony.
The suspect said he and the dealer had taken the man to an office in the building with a bag over his head and beaten him, Mr China said. When the dealer left, the suspect removed the bag and realized he knew the person they had just attacked. In a panic, he strangled him, Mr China said. He then went to a petrol station to get petrol, returned to the building and extinguished the body before setting it on fire, Mr Chinnah said.
The suspect testified that he was high on drugs at the time and didn’t think the fire would spread the way it did. He said he felt guilty as he stood outside and saw a woman and her child jump out of the building through a window, trying to escape the inferno, according to Mr Chinnah.
The man wept as he spoke, describing the guilt and fear he said led to his confession, Ms Zondo said. He had also lived in the building, he told the committee, and in trying to escape homelessness, had become involved in crime.
On the night of the fire, a neighbor had spotted him carrying gas to the building and wondered why a man without a car would need gas. In the aftermath of the fire, that neighbor convinced the suspect to surrender, the man said in his deposition. That neighbor also testified before the commission a day earlier, Ms. Zondo said.
The fire focused international attention on hundreds of damaged, squatted buildings in Johannesburg, like the one that burned down, housing poor families who cannot afford safer housing. These urban encampments are known as “pirate” buildings because drug-trafficking gangs often take them over and extort residents for rent payments.
The commission investigating the fire suspended its work last year after the burnt-out building itself was deemed a fire hazard. His hearings resumed this month.
The hearings were broadcast live, but the man testified behind closed doors for fear that gang leaders operating outside the building would kill him, the commission’s lead lawyer said.
“His life could be in danger if it goes public,” the lawyer, Ismael Semenya, said during a public portion of the hearing.
As police continue their investigation, the building remains bricked up, with its entrances blocked by barbed wire. City authorities have housed many of the survivors in a tented camp in Johannesburg.
Those killed in the fire included at least a dozen children – two of them toddlers named Memory – immigrants from other African countries and people who hold jobs as teachers and technicians. Neighbors and residents said the building also housed criminal gangs who sold drugs on the sidewalk and robbed passersby.
The building and many others like it were owned by the government. Going block by block and searching through archives, New York Times reporters last year found at least 127 similar buildings in downtown Johannesburg.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called the fire a “wake-up call” for South Africa, where the cost of living is making housing unaffordable for many, and where city governments are looking on as people occupy trashy buildings with no running water or electricity.
