A man has gone missing after his live-in girlfriend and their five-year-old son died in a shack fire in Mdantsane on Tuesday night.
Residents of Dacawa squatter camp in NU1 have been left shocked and mystified by the incident.
They said when the fire broke out in the shack between 10 and 11pm there were no screams or any signs of people inside the burning structure.
“We came in our numbers to extinguish the fire and it was not difficult as the shack was standing alone. We thought the family was not home.
“We were shocked to discover the bodies this morning ,” said neighbour Zoliswa Dyantyi.
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said the cause of the fire was still unknown.
Mqala said the victims were burnt beyond recognition and forensic officials were only able to collect bones from the scene.
Police have opened an inquest docket into the deaths, she said.
“Fire experts will determine the cause of the fire and an autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death,” Mqala said.
Neighbours said they only stumbled upon the charred bodies when they started cleaning up the rubble shortly before 9am. This was 10 hours after the blaze started.
Later, two vehicles dispatched from the Mdantsane mortuary by the Eastern Cape department of health arrived to to collect the bodies.
Neighbour Nozintombi Banzi explained the confusion: “We initially thought that there were three people living there including the boyfriend, because the family lived together every day since they moved into the area early last year.
“After the mortuary people were done clearing the scene they informed us they only found the bodies of the woman and her son and nobody else.”
Banzi said the boyfriend was always at his shack as he was not employed. The identities of the dead were not yet known.
Dacawa residents said their homes were unsafe and some berated local government for its slow pace of housing delivery. They said they have lived in the area since 1995.
The informal settlement is near the Nontsikelelo Junior Primary School.
The settlement has overgrown grass and there is a foul smell.
Residents claimed they were left out while neighbouring informal settlements including Velwano, Masibulele, Masibambane and Ilinge had all been developed. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Man missing after girlfriend, child die in fire
Residents of Dacawa squatter camp in NU1 have been left shocked and mystified by the incident.
They said when the fire broke out in the shack between 10 and 11pm there were no screams or any signs of people inside the burning structure.
“We came in our numbers to extinguish the fire and it was not difficult as the shack was standing alone. We thought the family was not home.
“We were shocked to discover the bodies this morning ,” said neighbour Zoliswa Dyantyi.
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said the cause of the fire was still unknown.
Mqala said the victims were burnt beyond recognition and forensic officials were only able to collect bones from the scene.
Police have opened an inquest docket into the deaths, she said.
“Fire experts will determine the cause of the fire and an autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death,” Mqala said.
Neighbours said they only stumbled upon the charred bodies when they started cleaning up the rubble shortly before 9am. This was 10 hours after the blaze started.
Later, two vehicles dispatched from the Mdantsane mortuary by the Eastern Cape department of health arrived to to collect the bodies.
Neighbour Nozintombi Banzi explained the confusion: “We initially thought that there were three people living there including the boyfriend, because the family lived together every day since they moved into the area early last year.
“After the mortuary people were done clearing the scene they informed us they only found the bodies of the woman and her son and nobody else.”
Banzi said the boyfriend was always at his shack as he was not employed. The identities of the dead were not yet known.
Dacawa residents said their homes were unsafe and some berated local government for its slow pace of housing delivery. They said they have lived in the area since 1995.
The informal settlement is near the Nontsikelelo Junior Primary School.
The settlement has overgrown grass and there is a foul smell.
Residents claimed they were left out while neighbouring informal settlements including Velwano, Masibulele, Masibambane and Ilinge had all been developed. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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