EC family claim electricity box blew up, gutting home, seek compensation

When Xabiso Mazwayi was woken by a loud bang on Sunday morning, he initially thought a car had crashed somewhere near his home.

But moments later, the father of six watched helplessly as huge flames destroyed  his family’s home, rendering them homeless.

Mazwayi, 44, who claims the fire was caused by an electricity box which blew up, now wants Eskom to rebuild his gutted home and compensate his family for everything lost in the fire.

The incident took place in Corhana village in Ngqeleni, 10km outside Mthatha, in the early hours on Sunday.

Mazwayi said the whole area had been without power for several hours. That day, the family had cooked supper on a paraffin heater and then gone to bed.

As the house filled with smoke, he managed to get his family to safety but they lost all their belongings, including the house itself.

“Since it was electricity that caused the fire, Eskom should rebuild the house and pay for everything else that was burnt,” Mazwayi told the Dispatch on Tuesday.

“School uniforms and books for the children, identity documents, birth certificates, clothes and furniture — all gone.”

Mazwayi lost his job as a porter at a private hospital in Mthatha in January.

He spent R150,000 to renovate his family’s five-room house and buy new furniture and clothes for himself, his wife and children in March.

Just this week, the Mazwayis were preparing to host a small birthday party for the youngest two of their six children, twin boys who turn two on Wednesday.

A cake and drinks had already been bought for the big day.

But now the family has no place to call home, and have been taken in by a sympathetic neighbour.

Mazwayi said when he had woken up in the early hours of Sunday, he was shocked to find his room engulfed in a cloud of smoke.

He rushed to one of the children’s rooms where he found an electricity box on fire.

All attempts to put out the fire were futile.

The family phoned the fire services in Mthatha but were told to contact Nyandeni municipality.

By the time firefighters arrived, the house was razed.

Mazwayi said they had also phoned Eskom but an official from the utility had only disconnected a wire from a nearby electricity pole.

The official allegedly told him someone would be sent to investigate the incident but he could not say when.

Nyandeni municipal ward councillor Nobuntu Nonkonyana, who lives in Corhana, told the Dispatch she had managed to raise R3,500 by Tuesday for diapers and baby formula for Mazwayi’s young twins.

The local authority has donated a mattress and two blankets to the family.

She said she was helping the family write to the department of social development,  requesting assistance.

“We are also pushing for a temporary house,” she added.

Eskom provincial spokesperson Zama Mpondwana confirmed the fire had been reported to them on Monday.

An investigation had been commissioned and the Mazwayi family would be part of that process, he added.

Anyone wanting to submit claims against the entity could contact 086-003-7566 for guidance on the requirements.

“It is important to provide evidence of the loss suffered by way of photographs to assist with the investigation,” he said.

The outcome of the claim would be communicated with the claimant once it was concluded.

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