Not only did Nolita Gwele have to watch her creche burn to the ground - the blaze claimed the life of her niece’s four-year-old daughter .
The creche in the Kayamandi settlement near Stellenbosch burnt down early on Monday morning. The fire also destroyed about 13 informal structures.
Gwele’s sister Grace was sleeping in the house next to the creche with two of her children and her granddaughter, Sinovuyo, when the fire started.
She said a neighbour had woken her at 11pm on Sunday, saying she smelled something burning. There was no sign of a fire, so they went back to sleep.
She woke up again at 1am, this time after hearing “loud” crackling sounds. When she went outside, she found a neighbour’s house had caught fire and warned all her neighbours to get out of their homes.
“But when I looked back at my house and the creche, it was burning and I couldn’t go back in to get the children. It happened so fast,” Grace Gwele said. The flames had spread quickly because the structures were wooden wendy houses.
Grace Gwele said she called for the children to run out of the house, but Sinovuyo, 4, could not. “I can’t sleep because my heart is sore when I think of the child (Sinovuyo) crying out for me (in the fire),” she said.
On the night of the fire, Sinovuyo’s mother had been working night shift, she said.
The children are now being cared for in her two-room Kayamandi house. It would be difficult to rebuild the creche because she charged parents R50 a month, just enough to cover costs.
“The parents have nowhere else to send them because it’s too expensive.” she said.
A funeral service will be held for Sinovuyo in Kayamandi on Saturday. Cape Argus
The creche in the Kayamandi settlement near Stellenbosch burnt down early on Monday morning. The fire also destroyed about 13 informal structures.
Gwele’s sister Grace was sleeping in the house next to the creche with two of her children and her granddaughter, Sinovuyo, when the fire started.
She said a neighbour had woken her at 11pm on Sunday, saying she smelled something burning. There was no sign of a fire, so they went back to sleep.
She woke up again at 1am, this time after hearing “loud” crackling sounds. When she went outside, she found a neighbour’s house had caught fire and warned all her neighbours to get out of their homes.
“But when I looked back at my house and the creche, it was burning and I couldn’t go back in to get the children. It happened so fast,” Grace Gwele said. The flames had spread quickly because the structures were wooden wendy houses.
Grace Gwele said she called for the children to run out of the house, but Sinovuyo, 4, could not. “I can’t sleep because my heart is sore when I think of the child (Sinovuyo) crying out for me (in the fire),” she said.
On the night of the fire, Sinovuyo’s mother had been working night shift, she said.
The children are now being cared for in her two-room Kayamandi house. It would be difficult to rebuild the creche because she charged parents R50 a month, just enough to cover costs.
“The parents have nowhere else to send them because it’s too expensive.” she said.
A funeral service will be held for Sinovuyo in Kayamandi on Saturday. Cape Argus
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