A welfare organisation in Nigel was flooded with offers of help from the public on Monday after 18 people were killed and more than 80 left homeless in an old age home fire.
"It is wonderful how people are trying to help," said Elaine Coetzee, executive secretary at Meals on Wheels Community Services.
She told Sapa that members of the public had phoned in to offer "anything from clothes, to food, to money".
Coetzee said the welfare organisation had a long-standing relationship with Pieter Wessels old age home, where 17 people were killed in a fire on Sunday evening, and an eighteenth person died of a heart attack after being rescued.
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A total of 84 elderly people, many of them disabled, were rescued from the fire which left them without any belongings.
"We need clothes, adult nappies, bedding, food," said Coetzee.
Earlier, Pieter Wessels Frail Care and Community Centre spokeswoman Remsie Visser said the building was destroyed in the fire, the cause of which was under investigation.
"They lost everything, all their belongings... Everything is gone. They came out with nothing but their pyjamas," she said.
Visser said she received a call early Sunday evening that there was a fire at the old age home in Nigel.
"They said I must come and help. The entire building was up in flames.
"We called the fire brigade and just tried to get the people out and waited for help. Most of them are disabled. We couldn't get everyone out.
"We are in a terrible state of shock," said Visser.
She said firefighters worked until the early hours of the morning to extinguish the blaze.
"Only the walls are still standing," said Visser.
The people who lived in the old age home had all been moved to other old age homes in the area by Monday midday.
"They are in a state. Some are crying because they only realised now that they had lost everything. Some are too shocked to speak."
Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said three people were hospitalised. Of those, one person was in a critical condition with 40 percent burn wounds, while two others had sustained serious injuries.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer Tommy Tomlinson said forensic investigators were on the scene to try to find the cause of the fire.
Gauteng Health and Social Development MEC Qedani Mahlangu visited the scene of the fire on Monday morning.
"[Mahlangu] sends her condolences to the families of those who passed on at Pieter Wessels old age home Dunnottar, Nigel in Ekurhuleni last night after a fire broke out killing 18 people and injuring about 40 others," her office said in a statement.
The department had identified Zanele Mbeki home, formerly known as Tina Foster home, in Dunnottar to accommodate the survivors.
"Counselling services are also being offered to the survivors, their families and the families of the deceased," said Mahlangu.
Social Development Minister Edna Molewa also conveyed her condolences to the families and friends of the deceased.
"We convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased, saddened that death has robbed us of an opportunity to learn from their wisdom and fulfilling experiences that could shape our understanding of the times we live in," Molewa said in a statement.
"It is shocking that these old persons lost their lives defencelessly under such circumstances, at a place they called home," said Molewa.
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The Democratic Alliance in Springs called on the community to show its compassionate side and help those affected by the fire.
Anyone wanting to make donations of food and clothes can take it to the Zanele Mbeki home.
Financial donations can be deposited to TC Adra, Absa Bank, account number 1001390755, branch code 334143, reference P Wessels FCC.
The public can also contact Pastor Louis Gouws on 016-342-0308. - Sapa
But it could have been electrical, or a bad heater or something.