Siblings die when dad burns room
They will be buried at Hlabekisa Moremela Village in Graskop on Saturday after a funeral service starting at 06:00.
Nokubonga (11) and Karabo Emaculate Shabangu (9) sustained severe burn injuries along with their mother, Gladys Mokoena, when their father, France Shabangu (43), doused the one-room rented flat which they were in, setting it alight on November 10.
This allegedly happened after France had accused Mokoena of having an affair with another man. The mother and children were rescued by neighbours who rushed them to hospital.
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The siblings unfortunately died while undergoing treatment on Thursday and Friday. France was found hanging from a tree and was certified dead on Friday. Nokubonga and Karabo had been grade five and grade six learners of Chakaza Primary School. Teachers described them as disciplined and respectful children. They added how distraught other pupils had been on the day they heard of their passing. “The children were traumatised. When walking into their classroom, I could tell that the kids were shocked. They were so quiet.
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They kept staring at Nokubonga’s empty desk until one teacher decided to remove it,” said teacher FK Gama. Members of the community said the two children were always to be found together, following each other so much that one would think they were twins.
The local councillor, December Ngwenyama, spoke harshly against gender based-violence. He urged couples to work with locally based organisation to solve differences. Family members said they were shocked as to what had happened as they knew these parents had deeply care for each other. Solomon Silinda, France’s uncle, said the incident had left his family devastated.
Speaking during the memorial service, he pleaded with his in-laws to forgive his nephew’s actions. “We need each other as families,” Silinda said. “I knew him as a good man. We were all surprised by his actions,” he said. The siblings’ aunt, Mary Makubedu, said, “We are hurt, but there is nothing we can do. What is done is done and only God knows why. We are all surprised at what could have happened to anger him because we knew them as a loving couple,” she said.
Makhubedu revealed that the sisters’ mother was recovering at home after being discharged from hospital on Tuesday.
