Year’s 209 shack fires have left 12 dead
MORE than 200 informal settlement fires have claimed the lives of at least 12 people since the start of the year.
Mayco member for safety and security; and social services JP Smith said there had been 209 fires which affected 801 informal dwellings in the first two months of this year.
“This compares to 248 fires that affected 628 structures during the same period last year. There have been 12 fatalities in the first two months of this year as a result of informal settlement fires, compared to 17 during the same period last year,” Smith said.
He said investigations into the causes of the fires revealed that negligence was the biggest cause, “in spite of continued education and awareness campaigns around fire safety”.
The most recent incident claimed the lives of three children; Someleze Tywala, 6, Sinothando Tywala, 12, and Linamandla Tywala, 14, after their shack in Enkanini, Khayelitsha, caught alight.
Fire and rescue spokesperson Theo Layne said the fire was reported around 3am on Sunday.
The children were with their grandmother at the time of the fire, Layne said. The grandmother is recovering in hospital after sustaining burns to 50% of her body.
Someleze’s father, Siviwe Sinuma, said he was called to the scene by family and when he arrived there the house was already razed.
“His mother called me and said I needed to be here for her, because she was not able to handle it. When I got here it was as if there was no fire at all, there was no smoke and the sheets were flattened.”
He said he did not know the condition of his son as he was stopped by police tape a few metres from the house.
“When I heard his mother’s wailing, that is when I knew that he had died.”
He said he was a very quiet boy and had started Grade 1 this year.
Sinuma said his pain was indescribable as he never thought he would lose a child.
The children’s aunt, Ongezwa Tywala, said the grandmother tried to save them and was still recovering at Tygerberg Hospital. “She hasn’t been able to speak and tell us what happened, she is still very traumatised by what happened.”
She said the family was going to meet to discuss funeral arrangements for the children. “I cannot even imagine the pain they were in or how scared they were, I don’t even want to think about it.”