Johannesburg Fire Accused Pleads Not Guilty Despite Prior Confession to Deadly Blaze

KEY POINTS

• Sthembiso Mdlalose pleads not guilty despite prior confession to starting the Usindiso Building fire that killed 76, risking multiple life sentences if convicted

• Trial highlights Johannesburg’s crisis of hijacked buildings as survivors prepare to testify about deadly conditions and escape attempts

• Case coincides with city’s redevelopment plans for the disaster site while activists demand accountability for neglected housing hazards

In a stunning courtroom reversal, 32-year-old Sthembiso Mdlalose pleaded not guilty to 76 counts of murder, attempted murder and arson on Tuesday, despite having previously confessed to starting the catastrophic August 2023 fire at Johannesburg’s Usindiso Building.

IOL reports that the blaze claimed 76 lives and injured hundreds in one of South Africa’s worst urban disasters.

“I plead not guilty your honour,” Mdlalose told Judge Cassim Moosa during his appearance at Palm Ridge Magistrates Court. The plea came sixteen months after his January 2024 testimony before the Usindiso Building Commission of Inquiry, where he admitted igniting flames that rapidly consumed the five-story Marshalltown structure housing over 400 residents.

Minimum life sentences loom for 

Judge Moosa delivered a sobering warning about the potential consequences of conviction: “The ordinary prescribed minimum sentence would be one life imprisonment… unless there are truly substantial and compelling circumstances.” With 76 murder charges, Mdlalose could theoretically face consecutive life terms.

The accused’s earlier confession detailed a grisly motive—claiming he set the fire to conceal a separate murder by burning the victim’s body in the building’s basement. “I did not expect that the fire would spread,” Mdlalose had told investigators, a statement now contradicted by forensic evidence showing multiple ignition points.

Prosecutors plan to call survivors beginning Wednesday, including residents who described jumping from windows to escape the inferno. The trial revisits systemic failures surrounding Johannesburg’s estimated 300 hijacked buildings, where illegal electrical connections and blocked exits created death traps long before the tragedy.

As testimony begins, the proceedings have reignited debates about municipal accountability. The City of Johannesburg recently announced plans to expropriate the Usindiso site for redevelopment, while housing activists argue the tragedy was predictable. “We’ve documented fire risks in these buildings for years,” said Abahlali baseMjondolo spokesperson Thapelo Mohapi.

Forensic architect testimony expected next week will analyze whether the building’s structural vulnerabilities—including sealed stairwells and absent fire doors—turned a contained fire into a mass casualty event. Meanwhile, families of victims continue grappling with loss, with some having paid R700 to reclaim loved ones’ bodies from overwhelmed mortuaries in the disaster’s aftermath.

The trial continues Wednesday as South Africa watches whether justice will emerge from the ashes of one of its darkest urban tragedies.