Communities gather around those experiencing death or tragedy. It is a basic expression of our humanity. When a family cannot afford a funeral, friends and neighbours come together to cover the costs, prepare food and comfort those who are grieving.
Tonight, musicians and community members are gathering at Trenchtown in Observatory to support Singabalapha, where a fire killed one resident and destroyed homes earlier this month. About 100 people have lived at the settlement for seven years, among them professionals, cleaners, domestic workers, security guards, military veterans and others who came to Cape Town for work.
The Singabalapha Fire Relief Event, under the banner We Belong Here!, begins at 5pm at Trenchtown, 143 Lower Main Road, Observatory. The line-up includes Cistamatic, Dream Eater, Saschin Martin, She, Buh, Elephants Can Remember, Day Creature and Bran n Jude. Tickets cost R80 for students with a student card, R120 for general admission online, or R150 at the door. Buy tickets here. For those unable to attend there is a donation option in the quicket link. The event is for over-18s, and all proceeds will go directly to Singabalapha residents.
A fire broke out at the settlement before 3am on 14 October, killing one resident and leaving about ten people homeless. Survivors escaped with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Mthuthuzeli Tyhomfa, whose family of four now relies on neighbours for shelter, told EWN this was the second time fire had destroyed his home. His uniform was also burnt, leaving him unable to work.
“We will try to reuse the burnt zincs and ask the other residents to help us with any building kits they might have available,” Tyhomfa told EWN.
Building materials are urgently needed. The deceased’s body remains with Forensic Services, and the family has yet to establish funeral costs with an undertaker.
Singabalapha’s presence in Observatory is part of a longer struggle over who gets to live in the city. Residents initially occupied a building believed to have been an old-age home, but after its demolition and their eviction, they moved onto the pavement.
The City of Cape Town planned to relocate Singabalapha residents to Gugulethu, but families at the Masonwabe temporary relocation area opposed the proposal, saying the land had already been promised to their community. Earlier proposals to move Singabalapha to Delft and Hanover Park also failed.
In September, GroundUp reported that residents were still waiting to learn where they would go, despite a Western Cape High Court order requiring them to vacate the Observatory site by 30 November. Zamuxolo Gulwa, an attorney at Ndifuna Ukwazi Law Centre, told GroundUp they were at the “hands and mercy” of the City and the Gugulethu community. He rejected claims that residents were stalling or refusing to leave, saying they had nowhere to go.
The dispute exposes a wider problem with how the City of Cape Town treats the people whose labour keeps it running. Its tourism and hospitality industries depend on workers who, when pushed to the periphery, face longer journeys, higher transport costs and exhaustion. The City cannot depend on their labour while making it increasingly difficult for them to live within reach of their jobs.
For Singabalapha resident Barbara Vuza, the situation echoes a longer history of displacement.
“Remember, our community is the generation of the forced removals, and again history is repeating itself,” she said.
Vuza said residents felt “very honoured, grateful and highly appreciative” of the support they had received, but remained traumatised, particularly amid suspicions that the fire was deliberate.
“Music and bringing people together in solidarity is also a form of help. It’s also a form of engagement,” said organiser Raeesah Noor-Mahomed (Rae). “Acknowledging that people’s mental health is also extremely important for their well-being, and it’s not necessarily just physical materials, physical donations.”
“Art is so important because it allows people to express and exist and be. And making art is what it means to be human. And so bringing people together as humans through art is just incredible.”
But even this act of solidarity has met with opposition. According to Rae, the owner of Trenchtown received a message threatening legal consequences for hosting the fundraiser. The message claimed that people helping residents rebuild could face legal action connected to the court proceedings.
A fundraiser to help pay for a funeral and rebuild shelters lost in the fire is being threatened with legal action. The organisers are going ahead. Rae says the event is about supporting people in their time of need, and that the response to the threat has been to stand firm and double down on the fundraiser.
Since 2020, Trenchtown has hosted Obs Can Feed You, a community kitchen serving breakfast to people in need every Saturday and Sunday, from 8am to 10am. Hosting the Singabalapha fundraiser continues that commitment to practical support in Observatory.
All the money raised will go directly to Singabalapha residents, with the community’s leadership deciding how it is spent. Rae has discussed the arrangements with leaders Barbara Vuza and Sinaso. The organisers will not dictate how the funds are used or require residents to answer to them. The point is to help, and to let the community decide what it needs most.
Residents of Singabalapha have been invited to attend, and musicians from the community have been welcomed to join the bands and jam. Tonight, people can turn up at Trenchtown, listen to music and help a community recover from loss. Residents need building materials, a family needs to make funeral arrangements, and a community facing an uncertain future deserves the chance to grieve and rebuild with dignity.
Giving a fuck is so punk rock.