Pietermaritzburg – A woman and her child have died in a fire that swept through SWAPO Informal Settlements in Copesville, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
The KZN Transport and Human Settlements MEC, Siboniso Duma, said Saturday, 19 September 2026, that a community leader alerted him at about 03.30 this morning to the deadly fire.
“We were contacted by the community leader, a distressed community member, alerting us about the death of a female resident following a fire that destroyed 13 to 14 shacks in SWAPO informal settlement at Copesville in Pietermaritzburg,” said MEC Duma.
“Our hearts are with the child and a partner of the deceased who sustained serious burn wounds.”’
The injured were taken to the hospital, where they are receiving urgent medical attention.
“Critically, the rapid swinging and devastating transition from floods to catastrophic fire that destroys shelter inflicts profound emotional and financial trauma on families already facing socio-economic challenges,” said MEC Duma.
“It is for these reasons we have assigned teams from my office and the human settlements departments in the province and nationally to work with officials from Umsunduzi Municipality to assist distressed communities.”
