A young mother died alongside two brothers in a raging blaze in Kalkfontein on Sunday night.
Emerentia Ocks, 22, was with her boyfriend Takunda Handiridzii, 23, and his brother Munyaradzi Mapundu, 39, at the time of their death.
They were sleeping when the fire broke out in Sikelela Street.
The mom of one’s dad Charl Bester, 49, says: “On Saturday she told me that she was going to her boyfriend’s place.
“I let her go because they were always together and I knew him.
“It was about 3am when people came to tell me about the incident.
“I went to the house and when I got there, the fire had already destroyed everything.”
The distraught ou tells the Daily Voice that after the sun rose he saw his daughter’s charred remains.
“I don’t know what happened because she wasn’t drunk,” Charls explains. “She cooked everything earlier that day and then asked me if she could go to sleep by her boyfriend’s place.
“She was burnt beyond recognition, I have to pay money I don’t have for the DNA test.”
He says Emerentia’s three-year-old son could have also died in the blaze.
“She wanted to go with him too, as she would normally do. But I asked her to leave him with me, and then this happened.”
Takunda, who is from Zimbabwe, had only been in the country for two months.
His sister-in-law Pretty Dube says he, as well as his brother, came to Cape Town looking for jobs.
“This is really bad ...because he stayed with his brother Munyaradzi for a short while before this happened. He came to the country to look for a job and instead he died in the fire,” she says.
“Munyaradzi was a father to three children and left his wife back at home so he could provide for them.
“We are deeply hurt by what happened to them. We don’t even have the money to bury them.”
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg confirms: “Kuils River police registered an inquest case.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.”
Anyone with information can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za