Elderly couple lose everything in fire
Fire destroys hostel room and everything in it.
An elderly couple from Mamelodi lost everything in a fire on Thursday night.
The couple woke up when they saw smoke coming from another room on the hostel block.
Phillip Moroke (73) and his wife Mmakaketseng Kakata (53) shared a hostel flat with other two tenants.
It is believed an unattended candle left on by a tenant may have caused the fire.
Moroke said he was sleeping with his wife when they were awakened by smoke and found a tenant trying to put out the fire.
The couple said the fire was already spreading and there was no time to take out their belongings except to flee with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
The couple and the two tenants lost everything they owned, including clothes, furniture and valuable documents.
The other tenant Malesela Tloubatla was at work when the fire started and when he arrived home, he found that everything he owned had perished in the fire.
The fire started around 20:00 and the other hostel dwellers tried to fight the inferno with water buckets but it quickly spread, and within the seconds the fire had spread to the roof.
“The Tshwane emergency service came to the scene and tried to put the fire but it had already destroyed everything we owned,” said Moroke.
Martha Makhubela of Action SA said they have started organising clothes and food for the couple and the other two tenants.
“We are also pleading with the public to help the residents with anything including furniture clothes and food.”
Makhubela said they will assist the victims to apply for new IDs, especially the pensioner since he lives on social grant money.
“One of the tenants has never had an identity document in his life, therefore, it’s going to be a long process for him to get his ID document.”
The two tenants are unemployed and survive on temporary jobs and handouts from their neighbours.
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