Avid runner Sabelo Ngcwama, 39, is grieving for his mother, Nonozile, who died in a fire that swept through an informal settlement in Langa.
Ngcwama has also lost all his running gear – a blow that has come as he is preparing for the Two Oceans and Comrades marathons.
The fire broke out shortly before midnight on Monday, destroying about 350 shacks.
Fire and rescue services spokesman Theo Layne said more than 1 700 people were displaced.
Ngcwama said on Tuesday the tracksuit, sneakers and cap he was wearing had been given to him by neighbours.
“I ran out of the house with nothing except what I was wearing.”
Ngcwama said he had been sent to buy bread and eggs shortly after 11pm. After eating, his mother had lit a candle in her room and he had gone to his room to sleep.
“Two hours later I was woken up by people screaming outside,” he said.
“I smelled the fire and left my room, (and passed) through the kitchen to get to my mother’s room... but it was too late.
“I did not hear her scream or anything, and I ran out of the house.”
Ngcwama later found his brother, Malubeko, 26, outside.
Phumla Nomkhala, 60, lived behind the Ngcwama home with his two sons, two daughters and two grandchildren.
They survived the fire but, like most of their neighbours, they lost everything.
By the time they woke up, the fire was burning through their neighbour’s roof and flames were coming out of the windows.
Nomkhala said there was a strong wind and they watched helplessly as the fire raged through their homes and those of their neighbours.
There are no taps between the shacks in Section 17, where the fire started, and it swept through parts of Section 19 and 20.
Nomkhala explained that Section 20, just behind them, was where the hostels were and where they got water.
“The fire trucks came and tried to put out the fire, but they ran out of water and went back to fetch more,” said Mawethu Nomkhala, 23.
While the firefighters were away, residents had to go into people’s homes to try to find water to put out the fire, he said.
Linda Ndede, 32, runs a tuckshop in Section 17 and said he had just restocked for the new month.
“I lost all my stock and all the money that was in my store. I think I lost about R15 000 worth of stuff in the shop alone.”
Ndede’s home was also razed.
Lulama Nyangiwe, 34, who lives with her nine-year-old son, Aviwe, said she had lost everything, including her son’s schoolbooks and clothes.
The City of Cape Town’s disaster management team provided food, blankets and clothing.
The city human settlements department said insurers had been notified and would be assessing the damage.
It would start procedures to repair the hostels damaged in the fire.
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