North house fire leaves couple destitute

The house of a much-loved and respected elderly woman and her husband in the north of Pretoria burned to the ground on Heritage Day, with the family suspecting arson.

Heatherdale resident Matilda de Bruyn (79) and her husband were on holiday in Eastern Cape when their home burned down, with nothing but a few walls and ashes remaining.

“I was responsible for looking after my parents’ home, like watering the plants. When I arrived there on Wednesday afternoon, I found the house completely burned down, taped off and that is when I spoke to the fire department and forensic department at the police station who informed me that a case of arson was being investigated,” said Suzette Muller, De Bruyn’s daughter.

According to Muller the forensic team said the first explosion occurred inside of the master bedroom and the second in the dining room.

“They could without a doubt see that the cause of the fire was intentional arson and that it was perfectly executed, which is very worrying, as we can’t understand who would want to harm two elderly people inside their home,” she explains.

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De Bruyn has lived in the home for 45 years, and the forensic team confirmed that it probably burned down in 15 minutes or less.

“We are all obviously tremendously traumatised and my mother can’t accept that memorabilia, documents and sentimental things that she has accumulated her entire life have now been destroyed.”

The family have opened a case at the Akasia police station who, at the time of publishing, were not able to comment.

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