Gutted home latest disaster to hit Contralesa provincial chair

The royal home of Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders and Contralesa provincial chair Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyana has been gutted in a fire, the latest in a string of disasters to befall his family.

Nonkonyana, who is the chief of the AmaBhala clan and a former Safa vice-president, told the Dispatch on Tuesday that damage to his Enkululekweni royal house in KwaBhala village in Flagstaff was estimated to run into millions of rand.

In a voice note sent to the paper, Nonkonyana said the incident had taken place on Monday while he and his family were sitting next to a fireplace in the lounge as it was a cold day.

When subsequently contacted, he said the fire had been spotted by his wife at around 8.30pm.

“We couldn’t salvage anything,” he said.

“The children and my wife are left with only the clothes they were wearing at the time of the fire.

“Everything else was burnt to ashes, including our bedroom, the children’s rooms, kitchen and the visitors’ quarters.”

Even television sets in the rooms were incinerated.

The family called the OR Tambo district municipality to assist with fire engines but  by the time the firefighters arrived everything had been reduced to ashes.

Nonkonyana praised and thanked locals for their swift response, saying some people had bravely endangered their lives attempting to douse the flames.

He and his family were now assessing the situation and trying to come up with answers.

He said his family had been beset by misfortune.

One of the rooms used by his wife as a venue in which to nurture and develop young talent was struck by lightning in January.

In 1993, he was installed as chief of the AmaBhala clan while confined to a wheelchair after he and his family were involved in a car accident which claimed his daughter’s life.

A house he had built for his two sons, who had successfully undergone the rite of passage to manhood, was gutted. He did not get compensation for this disaster.

In 2003, while an MP, he was involved in another horrific car accident and spent three months in hospital.

Twelve years later his son, Prince Bulumko Nonkonyana, a promising lawyer, was murdered in Mthatha.

“I am aggrieved by the number of misfortunes my family has had to deal with,” Nonkonyana said. Family elders were now scrutinising this latest disaster.

“They are here trying to find answers as to why these things keep happening.”

Contralesa provincial secretary Nkosi Mkhanyiseli Dudumayo expressed sympathy for Nonkonyana and his family.

“The family needs to come together and find out why this is all happening. It took years to build that home, which was destroyed by fire in only one day.”