‘Bubbly souls’ of little fire victims fall silent

Mom mourns loss of children

THE two young siblings who died in a devastating shack fire on Monday loved music and got on well with their elder brother, who survived the inferno.

Chuma Mjaleni – who lost her children Avuzwa, 5, and Avethandwa, 3 – said she could still hear their “loud, bubbly souls” playing around the shacks.

“They were an active bunch who got along very well with each other. Now the silence is so loud,” said the devastated mother.

The children were in the care of their grandmother, Buyiswa Mjaleni, at the time the fire broke out.

The elderly woman was cooking when she fell asleep and the shack caught alight.

Mjaleni had been away in Potsdam while her eldest child, Sihlangule, 10, was spared the fate of his younger brother and sister, as he was spending the weekend at a friend’s house.

“My life has changed drastically from the moment that my children died,” said Mjaleni.

“My heart now has a big hole in it that feels like it can never be filled, but I have to be strong for the only child I have left.”

Luyanda Mjaleni, the children’s uncle, said the family had not told his mother, Buyiswa – who is still in hospital – that her grandchildren had died in the blaze.

She sustained burns to her legs, hands and face and is receiving treatment at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital.

“We feared how she might react and did not want her to suffer [worse] shock or a heart attack so we did not tell her that the kids did not make it,” said Luyanda.

However, Mjaleni said social workers who visited the family yesterday morning had advised them to break the news to the elderly woman while she is still in hospital.

“We have decided to tell her while she is still in hospital so the nurses can deal with her should her reaction be detrimental to her health,” said Mjaleni.

Social workers yesterday visited the family while Ward 13 councillor Landile Vika, accompanied by representatives from BCM disaster management, also stopped by.

“We brought food and blankets to assist the family in their difficult time,” said Vika.

Social development spokesman Gcobani Maswana said: “As a department we are still awaiting a report about the family from the social workers so we can establish how we can intervene and help the family going forward.”

BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese said a “primary assessment” had been carried out.

“Disaster Management attended the scene and confirmed that two people were deceased and one hospitalised.

“Emergency food parcels and blankets were issued to the other four occupants as well as for the person in hospital.”

Matebese said the information would be sent to the relevant authorities to plot the way forward. —