Government blamed after two killed in Colchester shack fire
THE government’s failure to provide electricity resulted in the death of an elderly woman and her son in a shack fire in Colchester yesterday, the angry family said.
Residents of the Endlovini settlement are haunted by the screams of Nonganina Mbengashe, 79, and her son, Zwelandile, 46, whose shack burnt down in the early hours of the morning.
Neighbours rushed to the shack at about 4am when they heard the screams, but were unable to save the pair.
“Someone bashed down the door to help, but [the oxygen from outside] was sucked in and the whole shack went up in flames,” Mayibuye Ndlovu Development Trust trustee Kevin Foster said.
Nonganina’s eldest son, Mthuthuzeli Bell, 55, said the government had failed them.
“If that area had electricity, my mom and brother would still be alive today,” he said.
“She has stayed there more than 15 years.
“We pleaded with the [Nelson Mandela Bay] municipality and Eskom officials to give us electricity and for 10 years we have been waiting for houses.
“We even contacted Bhisho, but to no avail.”
Colchester is one of the areas often rocked by service-delivery protests, with residents demanding houses and proper infrastructure.
Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said it was suspected Zwelandile had been cooking on a stove when the fire started.
“An inquest docket was opened at the Kinkelbos police station,” he said.
Bell said the tragedy was the second one the family had suffered in five years – with their father killed by a speeding car on the N2 five years ago.
“We have requested the authorities to at least build a bridge for the elderly and children in that vicinity, but our plea has fallen on deaf ears,” a grief-stricken Bell said.
He claimed no one had been held accountable for the accident that killed his father.
“It’s very painful. We are hurting. We were still grieving the loss of my father [and] now this happens.”
Bell said he suspected his mother and brother had been trying to light a stove when it exploded. “We have nowhere to go now,” he said. “All the furniture we bought recently has been burnt to ashes.”
He described his mother as a God-fearing, humble woman who loved people. “We will miss her dearly.” Linda Venter, who had met Nonganini – or Makhulu, as she was fondly known in the community – on visits to promote recycling in Colchester, said she had been an amazing person.
“She was a quiet lady and always walked slowly, but she brought her bottles for recycling. We’re very upset she has died.”
Foster also described her as an “amazing, humble woman”, and said that the community has been incredibly supportive following her death.
“Business owners have given their help and provided furniture, and complete strangers have offered counselling for the traumatised residents,” he said. “There has been an amazing outpouring. “The community Rotary club will also be collecting donations and bringing them out [to Colchester].”
However, he lamented that emergency response vehicles often took up to three hours to reach Colchester.
“We basically put the fire out by ourselves [before they arrived],” Foster said.
“I’ve been pushing for a long time for first responder training – we need to train people [from the community].”