A mother and her three children died in a shack fire in
Endlovini Informal Settlement in Khayelitsha in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Neighbours say they do not know how the fire started but were alerted when they heard the screams of the children, who were trapped behind a burglar gate.
Mom Zukiswa Vuntu, 40, and her children Anako, eight, Siyamthanda, seven, and Khayone, five, all perished in the flames.
“Zukiswa screamed once,” says neighbour Fezeka Tabatsu, 43.
“Her children were at the
burglar gate screaming and we tried opening it but failed.”
The deceased’s sister Hazel Mantshumpu says she is confused about how the fire started.
Zukiswa, who is unemployed, and her husband are separated and he is currently in the Eastern Cape.
“Only her shack burned down,” Hazel tells the Daily Voice.
“Other shacks are close but they did not catch fire.”
She says while they are still coming to terms with the tragic deaths, they need R3400 for DNA tests or they will not get the bodies, which have been burnt beyond recognition.
“I am the only one working in my house and we do not have the money for the burial, not to mention the money needed for DNA tests,” she says.
SHOCKED: The grieving family
Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Jermaine Carelse says they received an emergency call at 11.07pm on Tuesday.
“When fire crews arrived on the scene, they found a single structure had been completely destroyed by the fire,” Carelse says.
“A search of the property led to the discovery of the bodies of a woman, two girls and a boy.”
He says police were notified and the scene cordoned off.