Survivor on a mission

Burn victim Lance Minnies continues to rise from the ashes and is now helping young children at risk.

The 19-year-old was left with 90% burns to his body in a fire that claimed the lives of eight of his friends in 2016.

Four of the teen’s toes had to be amputated.

Today, Lance is a youth worker, doing surveys for the office of the MEC for Social Development, Albert Fritz.

Lance is making a difference in the lives of destitute children who have no access to basic needs like water and electricity, food, education or even a birth certificate.

Lance was in Grade 11 at AZ Berman High in Mitchells Plain when he burnt in a fire at his friend’s home in Macbeth Street, Eastridge, on 12 June 2016.

Alfonso Swartz, 35, and his baby daughter, Tamia, and siblings Cameron, six, and Elmarie Fredericks, five, and their cousins, siblings Nikita, three, Joshua, 13, and Kyle Abrahams, 18, and their cousin Arafaat Madatt, 14, all died in the tragedy.

Lance lives in a hokkie with his parents and six other siblings.

SURVIVOR: Lance suffered 90% burns to his body in a house fire

On Friday, the Daily Voice followed Lance and Fritz around in Jim Se Bos informal settlement in Philippi, where they documented how many children were not in school and had no birth certificate.

“I cannot believe that I have come so far. I am refusing to stop because I want to change the life of my family and that of the children I see daily in informal settlements,” he says.

“I used to look at myself and my circumstances at home, but then I see these children, who do not even have their basic rights fulfilled, like electricity and water, and some do not even have a birth certificate.

“I want to be a change in these children’s lives.”

Last year after completing matric, Lance was personally honoured by the MEC for Education, Debbie Schäfer, for scoring top marks in English and Afrikaans and Life Orientation.

Lance is the first member of his family to matriculate.

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