Family loses everything to fire
How can the municipality erect homes with only one door to enter or leave from?
IT is a sad story that is told too often, but last week the Zamani family from Kenton-on-Sea’s new RDP housing project were distraught at losing their home and all its contents in a fire that completed gutted the building.
Sandiswa Zamani was busy cooking on a paraffin stove due to the gel for the bio-stove running out. This is a substance apparently brought to Ndlambe from KwaZulu-Natal, and therefore the family had no way to replenish their supply.
“The municipality provides us with five litres of gel per month, but that never lasts a whole month,” matriarch Ntomzawa Zamani said. “So, we have to light up the paraffin stove which splutters and spills all over the place.”
On this particular morning the stove spewed paraffin all over the kitchen and then caught alight. Sandiswa did her best to put out the flames but, on hearing the commotion, Ntomzawa came out from her bedroom and managed to pick up the stove and throw it outside the house.
It was too late, however, as the house went up like a tinderbox.
Sandiswa was forced to escape the flames by climbing out of a very small and narrow bathroom window as the house only has a single point of egress – the front door.
The family watched as their house and all their belongings went up in smoke, and have had to depend on the generosity of neighbours in order to function. The three school-going children lost not only their school uniforms in the fire, but also all their exercise books and text books.
“How can the municipality erect homes with only one door to enter or leave from?” asked social activist and former independent councillor Zache Ngxingo.
“And why, despite a previous agreement with the speaker [Ndlambe speaker, Vivian Maphaphu] that Eskom would provide electricity to these new RDP houses, is there no electricity? If there had been, accidents like this would not be happening.”
Community liaison officer Ntombekhaya Kwekwani has assisted the family to relocate and said that, while the damage to property was absolute, the family was lucky to escape the devastation virtually unharmed.
“We feel very sorry for the family,” she said.
Should anyone wish to assist the Zamani family with food, clothing or any other help, Kwekwani can be contacted on 087-820-1950.
Alternatively, items may be left at the Talk of the Town offices to be collected by the family.