A horrified Samora Machel resident watched helplessly as a four-year-old boy die after he was trapped inside a burning shack, died in the blaze
His mother had reportedly left him alone at home to run an errand.
Neighbour Sipho Feni, who lives down the road from Sihle Tono and his mother Thandokazi, said he had seen smoke billowing from the house and heard the screams as the fire had raged through the yard.
"I called five others to come and help me contain the blaze," he said.
Feni said he and five helpers had used buckets and tubs of water to try to douse the flames.
The little boy was in the shack he shared with his 24-year-old mother, when the fire broke out.
The fire ravaged two shacks and a house which were all in one yard. While frantically pouring water on areas he could reach, Feni heard the boy's screams.
"We could see the boy through the blaze but the burglar bar was locked … the child had no way of getting out.
"He was definitely not asleep; he was burnt alive. We tried to get him out of there but it was just too hot," he said.
Looking into the distance as if imagining the boy's suffering, Feni said he heard the boy's screams and then there was silence.
Nonceba Tono, the boy's grandmother, said Thandokazi had left the shack to go to a shop down the road, leaving the boy lying in bed.
Another resident, who declined to be named, said: "When the fire services arrived, the fire had already been extinguished and the boy had already died."
When the Cape Argus visited the scene, the boy's mother, whom neighbours described as "inconsolable," had been placed in the care of family.
"She (Thandokazi) is devastated… Thandokazi really loved her son, he was my only grandson," Tono said before breaking down.
Between tears, she said the family had no photographs of Sihle, as all of them had been destroyed in the fire.
The boy's charred body remained buried in the ashes for nearly two hours before it was collected by the state mortuary.
City of Cape Town's chief fire officer Ian Schnetler said the incidence of children trapped in burning shacks or houses was not uncommon.
But Samora Machel was not one of the city's "higher frequency" fire areas.
Schnetler said Site B and C in Khayelitsha, Du Noon, Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay, Masiphumelele near Ocean View, Nomzamo, Lwandle, Gugulethu and Nyanga had experienced the highest number of fire-related incidents in 2007.
Last year the Fire and Rescue Service responded to 11 964 fires across the city .
"These are the total number of responses and includes some false alarms," Schnetler said.
A total number of 97 fire-related fatalities were recorded in informal settlements last year.
At the time of going to press, Disaster Risk Management had not yet responded to queries on the number of people displaced by fires and the amount of money spent on relief aid.
- Cape Argus
His mother had reportedly left him alone at home to run an errand.
Neighbour Sipho Feni, who lives down the road from Sihle Tono and his mother Thandokazi, said he had seen smoke billowing from the house and heard the screams as the fire had raged through the yard.
| 'I called five others to come and help me contain the blaze' |
Feni said he and five helpers had used buckets and tubs of water to try to douse the flames.
The little boy was in the shack he shared with his 24-year-old mother, when the fire broke out.
The fire ravaged two shacks and a house which were all in one yard. While frantically pouring water on areas he could reach, Feni heard the boy's screams.
"We could see the boy through the blaze but the burglar bar was locked … the child had no way of getting out.
"He was definitely not asleep; he was burnt alive. We tried to get him out of there but it was just too hot," he said.
Looking into the distance as if imagining the boy's suffering, Feni said he heard the boy's screams and then there was silence.
Nonceba Tono, the boy's grandmother, said Thandokazi had left the shack to go to a shop down the road, leaving the boy lying in bed.
Another resident, who declined to be named, said: "When the fire services arrived, the fire had already been extinguished and the boy had already died."
When the Cape Argus visited the scene, the boy's mother, whom neighbours described as "inconsolable," had been placed in the care of family.
"She (Thandokazi) is devastated… Thandokazi really loved her son, he was my only grandson," Tono said before breaking down.
Between tears, she said the family had no photographs of Sihle, as all of them had been destroyed in the fire.
The boy's charred body remained buried in the ashes for nearly two hours before it was collected by the state mortuary.
City of Cape Town's chief fire officer Ian Schnetler said the incidence of children trapped in burning shacks or houses was not uncommon.
But Samora Machel was not one of the city's "higher frequency" fire areas.
Schnetler said Site B and C in Khayelitsha, Du Noon, Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay, Masiphumelele near Ocean View, Nomzamo, Lwandle, Gugulethu and Nyanga had experienced the highest number of fire-related incidents in 2007.
Last year the Fire and Rescue Service responded to 11 964 fires across the city .
"These are the total number of responses and includes some false alarms," Schnetler said.
A total number of 97 fire-related fatalities were recorded in informal settlements last year.
At the time of going to press, Disaster Risk Management had not yet responded to queries on the number of people displaced by fires and the amount of money spent on relief aid.
- Cape Argus
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