Rise from the ashes

IT HAS been more than a year since a fire claimed the lives of eight boys at the Lakehaven Child and Youth Care Centre in KwaZulu-Natal. The very fact that they were at the centre means that, despite their young age, they experienced some or other adversity.

At the time of the fire, most of the children at the centre had gone home to their families for the school holidays. The fact that these boys did not, provides more insight into the lives they lived.

Towards the end of last year, five months after the blaze, our sister newspaper, the Daily News, revealed that the remains of those who had died had not yet been laid to rest.

At the time, we were told that police were still trying, using DNA samples, to identify those who died.

A short while after the report, the authorities announced that the remains of six of the eight children would be returned to their families. The public were told the remaining two would be buried by the centre because they were orphans.

SINCE then, we have repeatedly contacted the police to try to establish how the investigation into the cause of the fire was proceeding, and whether it had been finalised.

The incident attracted much public interest. There were also allegations in the immediate aftermath of the fire that the door to the building in which the boys were asleep was locked, and they could therefore not escape the blaze.

Now, more than a year later, nobody can give us or the families of those who died a straight answer.

Yet it is this same state that, only a few years ago, spared no expense in investigating the deaths of Anni Dewani and Reeva Steenkamp. Why the double standards?

This week, as we commemorate the birthday of the father of our nation, Nelson Mandela, we should reflect on how Tata would have responded to this state of affairs. Would he have been satisfied with how this matter has been handled?