8 YEARS OLD BOY PERISHED IN DEVASTATING SHACK FIRE

By Andisa Bonani

An eight-year-old boy died in a shack fire on Friday evening while his mother was hanging laundry at a neighbouring property in NU 30, Motherwell.

Babanyane Mbalane was asleep in his parent’s shack after he returned home from playing when neighbours noticed heavy smoke coming from the shack. 

Seconds later it was engulfed by the blaze, making it almost impossible to get inside to save Babanyane.

Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said the incident happened at about 5.40pm.

“The shack completely burned out from an unknown cause in Sininzi Street, NU30, Motherwell,” he said.

An inquest docket has been opened and an investigation will be conducted by Motherwell officers. 

Community members collected water with buckets in an attempt to douse the fire, but low water pressure in the taps slowed their efforts.

Babanyane’s stepfather, Mthetheleli Mjekula, said he and another resident had to break the plumbing mechanism in the toilets to get stronger-flowing water.

“Everything happened so quickly. We kicked the door open and huge flames could be seen,” he said.

“We managed to put out the fire eventually and the fire brigade arrived after the fact.”

Mjekula said he suspected the fire was as a result of faulty electricity connections in the area.

“All of us in this area experience the same thing. When we use electricity, sparks come from the plugs or sometimes the meter box itself.

“So you can imagine that if a small shack like ours catches fire everything will be destroyed.”

Ward 54 committee chair Xolie Mestile said this was not the first time shacks had burned because of the faulty electricity connection in the area.

Formal electricity connections were installed in 2018 by the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.

“This area has been experiencing electricity issues which pose danger to the residents for a while now and no-one is stealing electricity here because we all have meter boxes.”

She said there were often sparks from electricity poles as had been the case in April when three families were displaced after their shacks caught fire and burned down.

“We don’t know what needs to be done before the municipality acts because we don’t want to experience any more tragedies.

“If nothing is being done about this electricity, I’m afraid more shacks will burn and that puts everyone’s life in danger because one shack burning, depending on how big the blaze is, can cause the next to catch fire.”

Resident Siphokazi Oniwe whose shack burned down in April, said she had been at a funeral when she heard her home had burned down. 

“I later found out that the fire had started at the electricity pole and my neighbour was cooking at the time.

“I don’t know what happened, but her shack caught fire, which also affected mine and another neighbour’s.

“Everything I owned was destroyed. I could only save a couch. Now I have been placed in an open field alone and I don’t feel safe here as a woman.”

Infrastructure and engineering political head  Khanya Ngqisha said they had not been aware of the electricity and water issues in the area and would follow up.

“These issues have never been brought to our attention before and now that we are aware we will zoom into it and ensure the community is assisted to avoid further incidents.

“We convey our condolences to the affected family and urge residents to practise caution until a lasting solution on the electricity matter is achieved.”