The family of a 76-year-old Soweto grandmother who passed away when her house caught fire on Wednesday night, is blaming electricity blackouts for the incident. The family said Nomzinishi Cele from Zola, lit a candle after she was left alone in the house before it caught fire.
Cele’s grandchild Kwazi, explained the circumstances that led to her death. “My grandmother has left us because of the fire caused by a candle. I won’t say much about the incident but she left us in the worst way possible. She was staying with one grandchild and my uncle, so on Wednesday just after they had left her alone – five minutes later – they saw a huge fire coming from the house.”
Cele said the family has not had electricity for months and it is believed that the blackout happened after a transformer box exploded and was never fixed or replaced. Cele’s neighbour and friend Sbongile Msuthini said when they saw the fire, they tried to save her, but it was too late.
“Someone called us and said there is fire, we came running and when we broke down the butler door, we found her lying on the floor. Cele was a friend and she used to joke that I’ll speak at her funeral. She had a back problem, but she was healthy. We are going to miss her.”
Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said the cause of the fire is a subject of an investigation. “Yes we can confirm that we responded to a fire incident in Zola North where one 76-old patient died during the fire incident. But the cause of the fire incident is still a subject of investigation,” he said.
Kwazi appealed to the community to help them rebuild the house, and also to replace furniture that was destroyed in the fire.
