Nearly three years after the Usindiso Building fire killed 76 people in Johannesburg’s inner city, Muslim survivor John Abinara is still waiting for justice after losing his brother in the blaze — as judgment in the trial of the man accused of starting the fire has been postponed yet again.
Abinara, a Malawian national who lived in the Usindiso Building with his brother for two years, told One Nation Media (ONM) that the tragedy not only claimed his brother’s life but left him displaced and facing higher living costs.
“My name is John Abinara, I am from Malawi. I was living in Usindiso building for two years with my brother. After the fire incident, I have moved to another place which is more expensive.
“In the fire, I lost my brother. There was no help from anyone. The government did not compensate nor did they come and talk to us. We are here but there is nothing happening. I cannot go back home because everything is here,” he told ONM.
For Abinara, a Muslim migrant who had made Johannesburg his home, the approaching third anniversary of the tragedy is therefore not only about the criminal proceedings, but also the continuing consequences of losing his brother, his home and the life he had built at Usindiso.
Sithembiso Mdlalose faces 76 counts of murder and 12 counts of attempted murder arising from the fire that engulfed the hijacked five-storey building in Marshalltown on 31 August 2023. Dozens of people were also injured in the blaze.
Judgment was initially expected on 11 August 2026, but the matter was postponed following a brief appearance at the Johannesburg High Court. The case was transferred back to the High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, with judgment subsequently scheduled for 12 August.
Tuesday’s proceedings, however, stalled after Mdlalose was not brought to court by the Department of Correctional Services. Presiding Judge Carrim Moosa postponed the matter to 17 August 2026.
“This court has been informed that Mr. Mbalalose has not been brought by the Department of Correctional Services to court. This matter is postponed back to the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Johannesburg, sitting here at the Magistrates Court, Palm Ridge, DC 13, to Monday, the 17th day of August 2026,” Moosa said.
The latest delay follows a series of earlier postponements. In June, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said judgment had been postponed to 21 July to allow the State to comply with court directives and address issues relating to certain post-mortem findings. Proceedings were also previously delayed after the presiding judge became unavailable due to commitments in another trial.
At the centre of the case are Mdlalose’s differing accounts of what happened before the fire.
In January 2024, Mdlalose admitted to starting the blaze, claiming he had been attempting to conceal the killing of another man. The State alleges that Mdlalose assaulted a man known as “KB” over a drug-related debt, mistakenly believed he had died and later returned with petrol, which he allegedly used to set the man’s body alight.
The fire subsequently spread rapidly through the building, killing 76 people.
Mdlalose later withdrew his admissions, telling the court that he had been under the influence of drugs and claiming he had been forced to take responsibility by an unidentified Tanzanian drug kingpin.
He later offered another explanation, saying he had confessed because he was homeless and believed prison would provide him with food and shelter.
His earlier confession was nevertheless admitted as evidence after the court ruled it admissible.
The trial also heard testimony from survivors who described the chaos as the fire swept through the overcrowded building.
One survivor, Tholakele Zondo, described escaping with her four-year-old daughter after neighbours raised the alarm.
“People were screaming in different languages that there was a fire. I couldn’t see the fire, and there was no smoke [on the third floor],” Zondo testified.
She described losing sight of her two teenage children and husband while attempting to reach the upper levels of the building. She and her daughter eventually became stranded after she fell while trying to escape from the fifth floor. Zondo later recalled seeing covered bodies on the street after emergency services arrived.
Beyond the criminal case against Mdlalose, the disaster prompted a wider investigation into the conditions that allowed one of Johannesburg’s deadliest building fires to occur.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi established the Usindiso Commission of Inquiry in 2023, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe. The commission examined the circumstances surrounding the fire, its causes and questions of accountability, while another part of its work considered the broader problem of abandoned and hijacked buildings in Johannesburg.
The commission found the City of Johannesburg partly liable for failing to enforce its by-laws. The Usindiso Building was among nearly 200 properties identified by the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service as hijacked, with 13 of those properties belonging to the municipality.
The commission also highlighted dangerous conditions in many such buildings, including overcrowding, inadequate access to basic services and structures that failed to comply with safety requirements. Emergency personnel responding to the Usindiso fire reported encountering makeshift structures inside some rooms, further complicating rescue efforts.
With judgment now expected on 17 August, the criminal proceedings against Mdlalose represent only one part of a tragedy that has also placed Johannesburg’s housing crisis, municipal enforcement and accountability for hijacked buildings under intense scrutiny.
