Four Dead in Cape Town Shack Fires

A couple died in a shack fire in Khayelitsha S informal settlement.

Four people have died in two shack fires over the weekend in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

A couple died in S-section on Saturday morning, and two other people died in LR informal settlement in the early hours of Sunday.

Spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said on Saturday, the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service received a call at 3:50am. Crews from Lansdowne and Khayelitsha put out the fire in S-section and the bodies of a man and a woman were found.

Mluleki Anta said the deceased are his nephew Daluxolo Mzilikazi and Mzilikazi’s girlfriend Nobubele Magazi.

He said on Saturday morning he was woken up by residents telling him Mzilikazi’s shack was on fire.

When he got there, the firefighters were already leaving and the bodies were under the zinc sheets.

“We are very sad. We saw my nephew on Friday, he came to our shack. He left in the afternoon, little did we know that it was going to be the last time seeing him alive,” he said.

Community leader Xolelwa Mjekula said the fire in LR informal settlement had destroyed six shacks, including a spaza shop.

Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said the fire broke out about 1:20am. When police arrived two bodies were among the debris. He said the cause of the fire is being investigated.

Resident Nosiviwe Ngongweni said she was woken up by residents telling her that her older brother Vuyisile had died in the fire. Her brother had a wife and children in Malmesbury, she said. The other victim was a young man in his early 20s, identified only as Aphiwe, said Mjekula. She said community leaders and residents were trying to trace his family.

Alex Mohammed, who owns a shop, said all his stock was lost or damaged in the fire. He gave residents permission to take damaged stock as it could no longer be sold.

“We were three inside the shop when the fire started. We were called by residents telling us to get out because there’s a fire. When we got out people were starting to fight the fire. At this moment we don’t know what we will do and when we will open the shop again,” said Mohammed.

“We are sad and at the same time we are happy to have survived.”

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