This is according to police spokesperson in the Free State, Malebo Khosana, who told OFM News that the reports indicate that the fire started at around 07:00 this morning.

The fire was contained by firefighters shortly after it started. The cause of the fire will be ascertained during investigations by local authorities. Malebo said the flat owner was still considering whether or not to open a case on the matter. He concluded by saying there had not been any reports of people injured in the fire.

OFM News attempted to contact the spokesperson for the municipality, Kgojane Matutle, who could not provide comment as he revealed that he was not on duty and is in fact among the workers at the municipality currently protesting.

Workers at the municipality have for the past month been calling for the mayor, Nkosenjani Speelman, to resign as they allege he does not care about service delivery in the area.

The employees are also calling for their third-party benefits such as death and disability cover to be paid over to the intended companies as the municipality has been deducting these from their salaries but not paying them over, and, amongst other things, for the provision of protective clothing to do their work with.

OFM News