The big white marquee tent opposite the graveyard in Maitland, has been  destroyed in a devastating fire.

The tent housed several refugee families who settled there after they were evicted from the CBD when they staged a sit-in several years ago, demanding to be repatriated to their home countries.

Jermaine Carelse from the City’s Fire and Rescue Services said at around 17:00 on Thursday, 6 November, the Fire and Rescue Service received several emergency calls of informal structures alight off Voortrekker Road, opposite the Maitland cemetery.

“Several crews are still on scene, but the fire has been contained. At this stage, the white marquee tent and several other structures have been destroyed.”

He said no injuries or fatalities have been reported.

“Further updates will follow once the fire has been extinguished and a thorough sweep of the affected site has been made,” Carelse said.

The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre said they will coordinate efforts to assist those affected.

“Disaster Management Officers are on scene to conduct preliminary assessments and collate the necessary information. Gift of the Givers is on scene, to assist with immediate humanitarian assistance.

“Structures on the perimeter of the site are intact – persons who stayed in the fire affected tents and structures have the option of returning to the perimeter structure or staying with friends or family off site.”

Disaster Risk Management said they are also liaising with shelters and safe spaces to determine the availability of bed spaces as a third option.

“Once the Fire and Rescue Service clears the affected site, DRM will arrange for a grader to be brought in to clear the area.”

The latest calamity to befall the refugees comes after the City attempted to evict them months ago.

At the time the refugees said  plans to evict them were against their human rights, while they continued to live in squalor.

The refugees were being supported by organisations such as Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, Khulumani Support Group, Save Our Sacred Lands, Housing Assembly, and the African Legal Students Association.

“Refugees residing at the Wingfield refugee tent and Paint City are facing a renewed wave of state-backed Afrophobia and brutality,” they said at the time.

“We, the undersigned civil society organisations, activists, and community members, denounce these acts as part of a broader neoliberal war on the poor and displaced. Just three days after the DA Ministers’ announcement, a 12-metre section of the Wingfield refugee tent was slashed during the night exposing families to winter weather.

“No one knows who did it or why, but we know this much: the act came after dangerous political rhetoric. These forced evictions are not isolated. They are part of a broader attack on the poor. Refugees may be the first targets, but South African residents of Gate 7, who also face landlessness, unemployment, and economic exclusion – will be next, ” the said.

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