Johannesburg – The University of South Africa (Unisa) has confirmed that a section of the university caught fire in the early morning hours of Wednesday.
In a statement, the Unisa communication department confirmed the incident.
Unisa media liaison officer Edgar Rathelele said relevant teams from the university protection and facilities management, in the company of Vice Chancellor Puleng Lenka Bula, responded swiftly to the fire incident and managed to contain it in time, before more damage was done.
“A portion of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela building at the Muckleneuk Campus caught fire in the early hours of this morning (December 21st, 2022). Relevant teams from Unisa’s Protection Services and Facilities Management, joined by the principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Puleng LenkaBula, responded and were on the scene swiftly,” he said.
He said following this, the team was able to reach out for help and contact the Tshwane fire department and the SAPS for assistance and added capacity.
“As per standard protocol, the team alerted both the City of Tshwane Fire Department and the South African Police Services (SAPS). At the time of the incident, no injuries were reported,” he said.
Rathelele said that at the moment they are not certain as to the cause of the fire, adding that investigations to determine the cause are now underway.
“The cause of the fire and extent of the damage will form part of the investigations. The investigation report will guide management on the next steps.
“For health and safety reasons, management has decided that the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela building will not be open for access during the investigation. Affected staff would be communicated to via line-function communication,” he said.
City of Tshwane emergency services department chief Thabo Mabaso said the fire started at about 1 a.m. in the early hours of Wednesday.
He said officials were greeted by dense smoke when they arrived at the scene, adding that fire fighters had to force entry to be able to contain the bellowing fire.
“We arrived to scenes of smoke and flames, and security personnel assisted in getting the doors open. They managed to locate the fumes of the fire after a battle to open multiple doors and stacks of files and papers, including books and furniture,” Mabaso said.
The Star