Questions as man dies in shack fire
THE family members of a man who died after his shack was gutted in Sabata, Parkvale at the weekend, say there was no reply from the municipal control room when they called for help.
Akhona Bilatye, 30, died inside the shack, of which the door had allegedly been locked from the outside on Saturday.
His nephew, Anele Maqaloti, said efforts to put out the blaze were fruitless as there was no water in the taps due to ongoing water cuts.
Maqaloti said he had heard the gate creak at about 11pm, shortly after Bilatye had left the main house where he had eaten dinner and returned to his shack.
Maqaloti went outside to check if there was an intruder in the yard and said he was confronted by the sight of a huge flame shooting from the shack.
The neighbours were called to put out the fire with soil, but the flames had engulfed the shack.
“I called out for my uncle but there was no sound. I then noticed that the shack door was latched from the outside, which was strange.
“I kicked the door open, but the fire was so intense I could not go inside to save him. I kept calling his name but it was silent. There was just the sound of the burning planks and iron sheets.”
Neighbour Khayalethu Ncwana said he had called the fire brigade but that the phone rang unanswered.
“I had to drive there myself because I was afraid the fire would spread to the main house and it had already burnt the municipal electric cable and pole.
“When I got to the control room the man who was on the night shift was fast asleep. I knocked on the window several times, but he did not hear me. I had to knock harder to wake him up. When he jumped up I told him about the incident and he asked me to go and inform the fire fighters.”
He said the fire fighters had rushed to the home, but by then the fire had been extinguished.
Ncwana said he was disappointed to find the man in the control room asleep, but was certain that even if he were to be reported to his superiors, nothing would be done.
Maqaloti said when the fire fighters had finished putting out the fire they told him there was no one under the shack’s remains.
“I knew my brother was in there because when he left the house after getting his food he said he was going to sleep. I looked myself and saw a piece of cloth from his burnt T-shirt and when I drew nearer I could see his burnt body lying there.”
He said he told the fire fighters to help him remove the body from the ruins.
He was also suspicious about the fire and that the door had seemingly been latched from outside.
SAPS spokeswoman captain Namhla Mdleleni said an inquest had been lodged.
At the time of going to press, the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality had not responded.