Seven people have been killed just an hour apart in two separate fire incidents.
A mother, Melezwa Mntwini, 31, who left her children locked in her Makhaza home says she listened helplessly to their chilling screams for help as the shack was engulfed in flames.
Athanandi, 10, and Ingakuthi, 5, perished in the fire in Emsindweni, Block 40, Makhaza.
Melezwa says she had been out with friends when the fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning at about 3am. She blames her neighbour for the blaze.
"I left them alone at home and locked the door like I would normally do when I go out at night. I unplugged everything and went to my friends.
“My sister called me and told me there was a fire. I ran home and saw the fire had not reached the bedroom. I told the people who were trying to help extinguish the fire to break the wall of the hokkie, but they didn’t listen to me,” the distraught mom says.
“When I saw the fire in the bedroom, I felt powerless as I could hear my children screaming for help. I waited for the firefighters next door.
“My neighbour said the fire started at the door. Only my shack burnt down.”
Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse says they were alerted at 3am of an informal structure burning in Dlavu Close near the Makhaza taxi rank.
“Firefighters from Khayelitsha managed to contain and extinguished the fire which destroyed a single structure. Sadly two minors, male and female, were declared deceased on scene.
“The cause of the fire is unknown pending an investigation by the South African Police Service.”
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie says Harare SAPS opened an inquest docket for further investigation.
“Preliminary information reveals that the mother of the two was not home at the time of the fire and was alerted by her neighbour whilst she allegedly visited a friend. The children were burned beyond recognition.”
Meanwhile, in Bonteheuwel an hour earlier, four family members died in a fire. According to Carelse, the blaze was picked up by the City’s surveillance cameras.
“The City’s Fire & Rescue Service was alerted to the incident by CCTV operators at approximately 2am.
“Crews from Epping who were first on scene were confronted by a house fully engulfed in flames and immediately started firefighting and search and rescue operations. At 2.15am, firefighters found the bodies of two adult males and two adult females who had sustained fatal burn wounds.
“Four others, three adults and a minor, were taken to a nearby medical facility for treatment. The fire was extinguished at about 3.30am.
“One formal dwelling was completely destroyed and two adjacent houses were partially damaged. The cause of the fire is unknown and the scene was handed over to the South African Police Service.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za