Three people have died in a fire that raced through the Oupad informal settlement at Knysna early on Sunday.
In a statement Knysna Municipality said two men and a woman died in the blaze.
Acting Municipal Manager, Bevan Ellman, said "that the Knysna Fire Department received a call at 03:03. By 03:30, after bringing the flames under controlled, they confirmed the loss of lives."
He said the Knysna Municipality was adamant about fighting "this scourge of informal settlement fires".
"We have joined forces with Eskom in a drive to educate the public on the dangers of fires and how to fireproof homes. Our Fire Department are in the final stages of the roll-out of fire detection devices in our informal settlements," said Ellman.
The loss of life was equally devastating for Executive Mayor, Eleanore Bouw-Spies, who said "my heart goes out to the families of the deceased."
"As I have said so often before, one life lost to fire, is one life to many. Our Provincial Government has recently committed to assist in the installation of fire detection devices. We have to do everything in our power to curtail this evil," said Bouw Spies.
"In the interim I appeal to all informal settlement residents to ensure that they fireproof their homes. Our Fire Department is more than willing to share their expert knowledge with you. Please approach them and/or your Ward Councillor for help in doing this."
In an interview with Algoa FM News on Sunday, Mayor Bouw-Spies agreed that the long term solution is proper housing.
"Proper housing is definitely the long term plan. The irony of it all is that we recently received the runner-up prize in the province for the upgrade of informal settlements because we have been really progressing quite well with that, but obviously not enough. The demand is always so high for housing, but we're trying our best".
"A lot of the informal settlement projects are either already planned for to be replaced by proper housing but it takes time. We have received the second highest housing budget in the province after the City of Cape Town, so we are surely doing something right," Bouw-Spies.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
