No entry here ... down a side alley, smoke rises from the blackened hulk Picture: LUCILLE DAVIE Fire engine spraying water on to the still-smouldering building in the early hours of the morning
	QUICK FACTS

Squatters moved into Drill Hall soon after the military vacated the premises in 1994 City officials planned to move the Drill Hall squatters to a social housing settlement at Vlakfontein The Drill Hall was the scene of the infamous nineteen fifties "Treason Trial" of 156 anti-apartheid activists - including Nelson Mandela City officials planned to restore the Drill Hall, which was expected to be declared a National Monument

Drill Hall occupants were about to move DRILL HALL was burnt down just a week after the Mayoral Committee approved the relocation of its illegal occupants to Vlakfontein, south of Johannesburg. Residents were due to be moved in a month's time, and the building was to be restored and declared a National Monument. Councillor Sol Cowan, MMC for the inner city, said "This unfortunate incident happened at the time when the City of Johannesburg was on the verge of relocating people in Drill Hall to Eikenhof. "This was being done because the building did not meet the requirements of the Fire Act and the National Buildings Regulations Act. It was unsafe and hazardous to life and property. The building was condemned and the residents were living there illegally," Cowan said. Pascal Moloi, the city manager, said, the council needed a month to implement the MMC resolution. "We first had to identify the people to be moved, to establish their legal status and whether they qualified for the State subsidy," Moloi said.

Five burnt to death in Drill Hall inferno April 8, 2002 By Thomas Thale How the firemen saw the fire Three striking pictures of the Drill Hall blaze, taken by firemen themselves as they battled the blaze FIVE people were burnt to death, and four injured when the 98-year old Drill Hall building in the city centre was set alight during a domestic squabble between two of the hundreds of squatters living in the building. Malcolm Midgley, spokesman for Emergency Management Services, said 218 people were in the building when the fire started. The injured were admitted to Helen Joseph Hospital where they are recovering. Rescue dogs are still searching through the rubble for survivors. This is the second inferno to engulf the building in less than a year. Five people died when a section of the building was accidentally burnt in June last year. Edward Gwegwe, who was sleeping in his shack inside the hall when the fire started, said he was woken up by a loud quarrel between a husband and wife who lived in an adjacent shack. "The argument soon developed into a fight and the woman suddenly doused the shack with paraffin before setting it alight. It was hell. We struggled to get out. I lost all my possessions," said Gwegwe. Councillor Sol Cowan, MMC for the inner city, said: "This incident was reported to the Joburg Connect Centre at 1:50am this morning. The first fire engine arrived on scene at 1:59am. Four operational fire stations from Rosebank, Fairview, Brixton and Central handled the fire, which gutted the whole building." Firemen survey the burnt-out remains of the historic Drill Hall on Monday morning. Picture: LUCILLE DAVIE Midgley said firemen managed to bring the blaze under control in less than an hour. "The fire spread quickly because of the shacks inside the hall. It is amazing that so many people managed to get out," Midgley said. Drill Hall was previously an army barracks, but has been occupied by squatters since the military left in 1994. The façade of the building was due to be restored, and the building declared a National Monument. Pascal Moloi, the city manager, said the Drill Hall residents will be temporarily housed in Eikenhof, about 40km south of Johannesburg, as the building remains unstable. "Our immediate priority is to save lives, stabilize the building, and provide temporary accommodation for the residents," Moloi said. How squatters lived in shacks inside the Drill Hall ... a picture taken a fortnight ago RELATED ARTICLES Inside Drill Hall Two weeks before the blaze, reporter THOMAS THALE visits Drill Hall and speaks to the squatters Better Buildings The city's new programme to upgrade or demolish derelict inner city buildings