Factories which have been turned into multi-shack homes in Marlboro, Johannesburg, are "death traps".

So claim industrialists and Johannesburg councillor Alan Fuchs, who said he had warned that a disaster could happen.
The comments come after a man died in a fire that gutted a building which was home to about 500 people.

Fuchs said: "We warned authorities this would happen, but they chose to ignore us."
There are 35 similar, converted factories in the area.

The city authorities know about them but have failed to act.

Fuchs said: "They are ignoring the safety of the people in these buildings, which are also health hazards. Most do not have water, electricity, sewerage or refuse collection."

The dispute over the area, which is next to Alexandra, has been brewing for about eight years.

Following a crime wave, many factory owners either abandoned their buildings or, because they were unable to sell them, started renting them out to the South African National Civic Organisation, which collected rent and "maintained" the properties on their behalf.

Sanco claims residents stopped paying rent and the organisation lost control.

The factories are not equipped for residential living and many are partitioned with cardboard and sheeting.

The remaining industrialists are angry, saying Marlboro is an industrial area, dangerous for people to live in, and that if it was developed properly, it could offer jobs to Alex residents.

However, no one has listened to them, and they claim the council has turned a blind eye to by-law contraventions.

Recently a new Marlboro South precinct plan was adopted, which decided to rezone the area for mixed residential and industrial use.

The plans have not been approved by the council because of objections by residents in the neighbouring, upmarket Marlboro Gardens area.

Former Marlboro Business Forum spokesperson Dieter Dilchert said: "They have not listened to a word we have said.

You can't have people living in factories or children running around an industrial area when there are delivery trucks coming in and out of the area."

A spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg, Nthatisi Modingoane, said they were in the process of identifying overcrowded buildings.

"It is a pity that there was a fire before we could get to Marlboro. We have to get court orders, which are expensive. We will be investigating the situation in Marlboro now," he added.