A desperate 28-year-old mother had to face flames and smoke last week to rescue her six-month-old baby from her burning shack in Emona, Tongaat in KZN.

Nokulunga Mabaso and 14 other Emona residents lost their homes when the block of shacks they were renting was destroyed in a blaze last Wednesday.

Mabaso says they were sitting outside at around 19:00 when one of the residents noticed her home was on fire.

The flames spread very quickly and she only had time to save her sleeping baby, Seluleko. When she tried to enter her home a second time to retrieve more of her belongings, the home was already engulfed in flames.

“It was a frightening situation. We lost everything we had,” adds Mabaso.

In the interim, a neighbour offered her and her baby a place to sleep until alternative arrangements can be made, while another neighbour helped out with baby clothes.

Most of the residents affected by the fire are unemployed women with eight children between them.

They all lost their belongings and while the cause of the fire remains unknown, some of the women believe arson is to blame.

“There is no electricity and none of us had candles burning while we were sitting outside. So there is no way that something in one of the rooms caused the fire,” says one of the affected woman.

Tongaat police say the incident had not been reported and no case had been opened.