At least 30 shacks have been ravaged in a blaze at the Bremmer informal settlement in Daspoort, Pretoria, leaving about 120 people homeless on Monday, EWN reported.

Three people were reportedly injured in the blaze and were rushed to hospital.

Tshwane emergency services spokesperson Charles Mabaso told EWN that it was unclear what started the fire.

“With wind like this and the hot conditions we’ve been experiencing, one cannot rule out the possibility of a veld fire,” he reportedly said. 

Gauteng has been experiencing heatwave conditions since the weekend, and the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued warnings that there was a higher probability of veld fires. 

Also on Monday, a fire at an informal settlement in Belgravia, Cape Town, claimed two lives, News24 reported. 

Two badly burnt bodies were recovered after structures caught alight in Vygieskraal in Johnson Road, said City of Cape Town fire and rescue services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse.

On September 30, around 900 people were left homeless when a fire destroyed nearly 200 shacks in the Pomona informal settlement in Kempton Park, north east of Johannesburg.

According to Ekurhuleni emergency services spokesperson Aaron Mafunda, no deaths were reported, despite the extent of the blaze. 

 – Compiled by Riaan Grobler