Court hears firsthand account of charred body found in Usindiso fire

The High Court in Johannesburg sitting in Palm Ridge has heard of how firefighters first found a charred body of a male when they responded to the Usindiso building fire in the Johannesburg CBD .

City of Joburg Emergency Services Incident Commander, Chicco Nyathi is the first witness to take the stand in the reopened trial.

Sthembiso Mdlalose faces 76 counts of murder for his alleged involvement in starting the August 2023 fire that killed 76 people, mostly Malawian nationals.

The court was supposed to deliver judgment to murder accused and extortionist Mdlalose, however, presiding Judge Cassim Moosa indicated that there were some forensic records that needed clarification before he could hand down judgment.

Nyathi explained the discovery to the court.

Judge Moosa: When you discovered this charred body, Mr Nyathi, do you still recall the surroundings where the body was found? Nyathi: Yes, I still, of course.

Judge Moosa: Tell the court.

Nyathi: It was exactly where we gained our access on the spaza shop.

Judge Moosa: Was it leaning against something, what was the position? Nyathi: On the floor, everything was totally burnt.

All those shacks were down.

So, we could see that, that is a human being.

And we decided to move it to avoid stepping on it.

VIDEO | Usindiso fire surviviors recount the events of the day 76 people were killed in the fire: