By Jonk wa Mashamba
Editor-In-Chief
Many residents were left stranded and homeless when horrendous fire ravaged their shacks at Rasta Village, ext 8 in Alexandra.
The incident happened this morning at approximately 2:00 a.m.
A resident who stayed in the area for more than four years, Pule Sekhoto said he did not sleep after coming back from patrol around 1.20.
“I waited until power was restored at 2:00,” he said.
He said that when he suspected something was burning , he looked around and he did not see anything amiss.
“Immediately when I arrived at my place to watch over my children, I heard a woman screaming for help at the next door.
“I went back to assist the woman but there was nothing I could do because the fire was huge…I was alone to help,” said Sekhoto.
In the other incident, two families lost their two homes in the fire at approximately 2:00 a.m. last night.
Hlamalani Hazel Baloyi, a resident of 34-16th Avenue in Alex, believes that the fire was caused by an arson.
She said her aunt, Portia Mbhiza (38) had an argument with her boyfriend around 8pm.
“We assisted her with a place to stay since her man was abusive. We wanted her to stay in the room for a while until she had fixed her issues,” said Baloyi.
She said the boyfriend, Nikholas Makhubela from Mozambique, returned late at night and began making noise outside.
“She went out and spoke with him before he departed.”
” Around 2:54 when I woke up, I felt like I heard a noise and told someone I stay with that there was a thief outside.
“When we went out to investigate, we saw the blaze coming out through the door and it was huge,” Baloyi said, adding that her aunt had already escaped with her nine months old baby.
Baloyi said the room Mbhiza was occupying was hers. She said by the time the fire department arrived, everything was already burned in both rooms.
“We lost everything in the fire. I’m so devastated because since I woke up at two in the morning, I haven’t slept.
“We made a decision to rebuild before we could rest,” she said.
City of Joberg Emergency Management Services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi said the 28-year-old woman was treated for smoke inhalation on the scene.
She was latter transported to the nearby health facility by “our provincial ambulance services”.
” At this stage, the cause of fire is still a subject of investigation. However, we continue to encourage our residents especially at our informal settlements throughout the city of Johannesburg, to continue to look after all heating devices…things like candles, parrafin stoves, not to leave them unattended while in use so that we can be able to prevent the fire incidents like these ones.”