EFF to the rescue

Thanks to the planned outage which affected the entire Middelburg community two weeks ago, the 70-year-old madala, who only has one arm, watched helplessly as everything he owned went up in smoke, and almost cost him his life.

Mr Malandule, who resides in Mhluzi, came home to find that the entire area had no lights. So he decided to light a candle.

“I was extremely tired, so I fell asleep,” he said. “I later woke up coughing, and realised that I was choking on smoke that had filled my bedroom. My house was on fire.”

During his peaceful sleep, the candle fell and the entire room was engulfed in flames. He tried to flee the flames, but could not locate the door. Outside, neighbours were already trying to break his door down to rescue him.

“I don’t know who rescued me, but all I remember were a bunch of hands yanking me to safety,” he said. “Even though I was already outside, I still wanted to flee the flames. Some of my neighbours chased and caught up with me in the street.”

Mr Malandule lost everything in the fire, and only escaped with his grant card, his ID and the clothes he wore. Neighbours donated clothes and blankets, and helped him with food.

Neighbour Matiti Mathelele (30) said the firefighters were called, but they only arrived the following day and only took pictures.

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“We also contacted the councillor, who promised to return the next day with a contractor to repair the house and paint the discoloured walls,” she said. “That was weeks ago and he still has not kept his promise.”

Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters stepped in last Wednesday, and helped paint Mr Malandule’s house and repaired his roof. EFF member Joseph Ngubeni said they asked members to contribute for the repairs and those with building and painting skills to lend their hands.

“We did not step in just because it is election year,” he said. “Our members genuinely wanted to help the old man as he is disabled and could not do the repairs on his own.”