Two little siblings who were left home alone died in a shack fire in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Baby Ayola, one, and her six-year-old brother Akhanani were sleeping when they burnt to death in Sikhobongela Street, Wallacedene, Kraaifontein.
The family couldn’t say who was supposed to be looking after the children on Saturday night but confirmed that they were sleeping at the time of the fire, which left 16 families displaced.
Their uncle Sandile Bulani, 38, tells the Daily Voice: “There were relatives who were taking care of them while their mom was in hospital with her premature baby.
“The mom had asked the doctors to come out to Kraaifontein for the weekend but she was also not home when this happened.
“The relatives who were responsible for the kids left to go to a traditional ceremony of a boy who’s going to the initiation school.”
The uncle explains that he received a call around 1am, alerting him to the fire.
“I don’t live in the same house so I was at home when I was told the fire started when the power went back on after load shedding,” adds Sandile.
“It started from the hokkies at the back of their home and then the blaze spread to the shack where the children were sleeping.
“A man who tried to rescue them says the flames were too big for him to run in and get them. So everyone watched in horror as they burned to death.”
The kiddies’ heartbroken mom Eunice Bulani, 23, would not tell the Daily Voice where she was at the time of the fire.
“I was home for the weekend but I was not with the children when the fire incident occurred,” was all she would say.
“I got a call this morning, I am really heartbroken, I don’t know what to do with myself.”
City Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse says: “One dwelling was partially damaged and several informal structures were completely destroyed.
“The fire was extinguished just before 3am and the scene was handed over to the South African Police Service.”
He said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.