A weeping Zanele Gagayi, 44, said the money she had stashed under her mattress as well as new clothes for her 14-year-old son had been destroyed in the blaze.
Gagayi said she had saved up R5,000 for a trip back home to Mzimkhulu in KwaZulu-Natal next week.
“I have nowhere to sleep or to go. My heart is broken into a thousand pieces. My son won’t have clothes to wear on Christmas Day like other children. His birth certificate and my identity book were also destroyed.”
Thompson said it took 48 firefighters from the Fleet Street, Vincent and Greenfields stations 45 minutes to put out the blaze and prevent it from spreading to other shacks.
He said four major fire engines and a 12,000-litre water tanker had been used in the operation. “The disaster management officers have gone to the scene to assess the damage.”
Nobuzwe Nkohla, who was also a victim, said she heard people screaming “fire!” She rushed with a bucket of water, but the fire was already big. “It quickly spread to five shacks in no time and by the time firefighters arrived, more than 10 were burning.”
Nkohla said a chest of drawers with all her family’s clothes it was destroyed, as well as food.
Luyanda Tsekana, 43, said he had only managed to save his microwave and his bed, while Zukiswa Ntelesi, 43, said her stokvel money had gone up in flames.
“What worries me more is losing the Christmas clothes I had bought for my children,” said Ntelesi, who held her playful six-month-old son Imolathile Nkohla in her arms while she spoke to the Dispatch. She said his baby formula and porridge had also been destroyed.
“I will have to breastfeed him until I find money for porridge. His food was burnt in the fire.”
Families destitute after fire destroys Duncan Village shacks
Image: RANDELL ROSKRUGE
“I am officially homeless.”
These were the words of 36-year-old Zandile Phina of Duncan Village as he looked at the ruins where his home once stood. Phina is one of 34 residents from the area left destitute when a fire destroyed 14 shacks on Tuesday morning.
A “love-struck” woman, who allegedly left a paraffin stove burning on Monday night and “rushed” off to spend the night with her boyfriend, has been blamed for the blaze.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the area on Tuesday morning, residents stood and looked on in disbelief as firefighters doused their burning shacks with water. Most residents said they had been forced to flee their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Others managed to save a few household items before their homes were engulfed by the flames.
Buffalo City Metro fire chief Thembile Thompson confirmed that the fire had started at about 7.30am when a stove was left unattended. Firefighters were called to the scene at about 7.55am.
Two killed in Mdantsane shack fire
A weeping Zanele Gagayi, 44, said the money she had stashed under her mattress as well as new clothes for her 14-year-old son had been destroyed in the blaze.
Gagayi said she had saved up R5,000 for a trip back home to Mzimkhulu in KwaZulu-Natal next week.
“I have nowhere to sleep or to go. My heart is broken into a thousand pieces. My son won’t have clothes to wear on Christmas Day like other children. His birth certificate and my identity book were also destroyed.”
Thompson said it took 48 firefighters from the Fleet Street, Vincent and Greenfields stations 45 minutes to put out the blaze and prevent it from spreading to other shacks.
He said four major fire engines and a 12,000-litre water tanker had been used in the operation. “The disaster management officers have gone to the scene to assess the damage.”
Nobuzwe Nkohla, who was also a victim, said she heard people screaming “fire!” She rushed with a bucket of water, but the fire was already big. “It quickly spread to five shacks in no time and by the time firefighters arrived, more than 10 were burning.”
Nkohla said a chest of drawers with all her family’s clothes it was destroyed, as well as food.
Luyanda Tsekana, 43, said he had only managed to save his microwave and his bed, while Zukiswa Ntelesi, 43, said her stokvel money had gone up in flames.
“What worries me more is losing the Christmas clothes I had bought for my children,” said Ntelesi, who held her playful six-month-old son Imolathile Nkohla in her arms while she spoke to the Dispatch. She said his baby formula and porridge had also been destroyed.
“I will have to breastfeed him until I find money for porridge. His food was burnt in the fire.”
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