Following the tragic incident in the Johannesburg CBD where 77 people including children lost their life after a fire at the hijacked Usindiso Place of Safety for Women and Children last week Thursday, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has established a commission of enquiry to look the incident. Lesufi says the enquiry will also make recommendations on who should be held responsible for the deadly fire.

Lesufi appointed a panel that will be chaired by retired Constitutional Court Judge, Justice Sisi Khampepe assisted by Advocate Thulani Makhubela and Vuyelwa Mathilda Mabena. The Premier says the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry will help avert any political influence into the probe. The incident caught the attention of the international media and opened a debate about illegally occupied buildings in big cities in Mzansi, from Gauteng to Cape Town and Durban. "We have appointed and given the judge who agreed to the terms of reference and consulted with the mayor of the municipality. There's no objection and I spoke to President Cyril Ramaphosa. He indicated that that's the best way of handling this matter," he said, adding that the process will be as independent as possible and that it must not be influenced by politics or coverups.

The commission is set to investigate the high rise of number of buildings that have been illegally hijacked in the City of Johannesburg and the cause of the deadly fire. "In Johannesburg, the issue of stolen buildings is becoming a crisis necessitating drastic action. A thorough intervention is required to ensure that disasters like the Marshalltown fire, one of the deadliest in recent memory never happen again," said Lesufi. He further said: "We urge all affected communities and organisations to make submissions and work with the commission to get to the bottom of this intractable problem of hijacked buildings." On Monday department of Health in Gauteng announced that 73 families presented themselves at the Diepkloof Forensic Pathology Service mortuary in Soweto to report their missing loved ones. Spokesperson for the department Motalatale Modiba said this has resulted in a line list of 73 names that possibly perished during the fire incident. The department further revealed that 12 families have already identified their loved ones from the 13 identifiable bodies and that all 12 bodies have been released to the families for burial.