Single mother is in despair after boyfriend allegedly torches house
"My boyfriend had been abusive since we met. I always prayed and wished he would change his behaviour, but I guess I was only fooling myself. The problems started when he came from Rustenburg where he was working. On his arrival he kicked the door open and poured fuel over me and my child. We managed to run to the neighbours but he then set the house on fire," she said.
BURGERSFORT – Locals watched in disbelief as an abusive boyfriend, recently allegedly set his partner, Ms Zanele Radebe’s (29) house alight. The incident took place in Dresden.
Radebe and her one-year-old child are now left with only the clothes they wore on that fateful night. The only valuable possession she managed to save, was her cellphone. She does not even have an ID, let alone bank cards.
“My boyfriend had been abusive since we met. I always prayed and wished he would change his behaviour, but I guess I was only fooling myself. The problems started when he came from Rustenburg where he was working. On his arrival he kicked the door open and poured fuel over me and my child. We managed to run to the neighbours but he then set the house on fire,” she said.
“When we came back, it was too late as the fire had already destroyed my belongings. There was still some smoke rising from other parts of the house. I couldn’t control myself as I cried helplessly,” she said.
Radebe told Steelburger/Lydenburg News that she opened an arson case against her boyfriend at Tubatse Police Station and applied for a protection order against him.
She pleaded with locals to donate clothes and building materials. “I am not working and it will be difficult to recover from this setback.”
They have to start all over in order to bring about some balance in their lives. Radebe survives on the social grant she receives for her child. Tubatse police officers confirmed that the victim opened a case at their station and that they were busy investigating the incident.
