Waking up to news of the tragedy on Thursday in which more than 70 people died, including 12 children, in a fire in a building in the Johannesburg CBD, we found a blame game at play. Some elements in the media were demanding that Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Executive Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda be immediately available for interviews while the emergency response teams were clearly still at work. Others blamed foreign migrants and NGOs for defending in court the right of people to stay in such buildings. Few seemed to be focusing on the tragedy of such loss of life.
Later in the day, the immediate responses of those grabbing such attention started calming down. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s, correct call was that it is a wake-up call for all of us. That we need an all-of-society
