Five family members burned to death in a five-roomed shack in Extension 25, Olievenhoutbosch in Tshwane on Friday morning.
According to the only surviving family member Nthabiseng Manganye (33), who spoke with Daily Sun, she was with them on Thursday, 10 July, at about 6pm.
“When I left them going to Thembisa where I work, they were ok and happy. I’m heartbroken and sad. I spoke to all of them. After hearing the bad news, I wasn’t ok,” she said.
She said the five family members who died are her gogo Jemina Manganye (56), her mum Molatelo Manganye (49), her sister Boitumelo Manganye (16), her daughter Naledi Manganye (14) and her son Boikarabelo Manganye (9).
“I received a call around 7am. I don’t know the cause of fire. This is hard. I felt very weak.”
Family friend Seipone Mobika (51) said: “I last saw them on Saturday, 5 July. They were ok and I even told them to stay at home as it was cold. This is very painful.”
Dan Sambo (52), a family member, said: “This is very painful.”
Chairman of Sanco in ward 106, Robert Khalushi, said: “We are in great pain. We know them all. The way they died is very painful.”
Ward 106 councillor Kenneth Masha said: “I didn’t believe it when I heard about it. I got calls from community members.”
He said such incidents are becoming a norm in the ward as over a year ago they lost three family members in the same street.
“This is a call to the government to do more and have people in safe places where there can’t be high risk of fire. This is devastating,” he said.
Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya visited the family at the scene and comforted them.
“We deployed our social workers for psychosocial support. We will continue monitoring the site,” she said.
Dr Moya said the family said they would move the burial to the North West.
“When the burial has happened, we will stay in touch through the psychosocial support, especially the mother, father of kids, and the aunt,” she said.
The family said the funeral will be in Mmakaunyane in North West soon.
Tshwane Emergency Services acting spokesman Lindsay Mnguni said the incident was reported to their Emergency Communication Centre at about 05.04am.
“On arrival, the firefighters found out that the fire had already destroyed the shack. Sadly, five family members including a senior citizen, one adult and three minors were fatally burned by the devastating fire. The firefighters continued to completely extinguish the fire as it was still smouldering,” he said.
He said that the cause of the fire isn’t yet determined.
Tshwane district police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Marinda Austin said: “Five inquest dockets were opened, and the cause of fire is unknown. The investigation is ongoing.”
