Grief-stricken 59-year-old, Nelly Malapisane of Baipei Promosa says she pleaded with her visiting daughter-in-law more than five times not to sleep in the shack on that Thursday night.

By that Friday morning, both the 39-year-old Thandi and her one-month-old baby boy, Eric, had died in a blazing shack fire.

Nelly says Thandi, who’s originally from the Eastern Cape, came to Promosa to show her the baby boy last Thursday.

‘We spoke for a very long time and she told me how much she missed me. At night, when it was time to go to sleep, I asked her to come and sleep in the RDP house with me and my boyfriend. I was also worried about the small baby boy. I pleaded with her but she refused until I gave up,’ says Nelly. ‘I lay there on my bed thinking about the baby in the shack until I managed to fall asleep. However, at about 03:00 on Friday morning, while I was in a deep sleep, I vaguely remember hearing the old lady from next door screaming. We thought it was people fighting in the streets,’ she said. ‘When I went out to see what was happening, all I could see were huge menacing flames in the yard. The shack that Thandi and the baby were sleeping in had caught fire. I quickly grabbed a bucket of water to douse the fire. The more water we poured on the fire, the worse it became. This was some kind of fire that I have never seen before,’ she said.

The Ikageng SAPS spokesperson, Const. Kelebogile Trom says the police found the fire brigade at the scene at 03:53, trying to extinguish the fire. ‘The personnel told the police that they had discovered two burnt bodies underneath the rubble and had handed them over to the forensic services,’ she said.

The tearful Nelly described Thandi as very friendly and says they had a mother-daughter bond.

Thandi was married to her son who works in Rustenburg. ‘My son loved her dearly,’ she said.

The funeral arrangements have yet to be finalised.

Anyone in Potchefstroom who would like to assist the family with groceries for the funeral can contact Const. Trom on 082 374 0271 or deliver them to 156 Baipei, Promosa.