‘Load-shedding nearly destroyed our home,’ says couple from Mahube Valley
The couple forgot to switch off the stove during load-shedding and went to sleep.
An elderly couple in Mamelodi narrowly escaped a house fire after they were awakened by smoke coming from their kitchen.
Phodesta (63) and Lazarus (72) Leballo from Mahube Valley ext. 2 next to All 4 one place said their kitchen nearly caught fire and blamed load-shedding for it.
The fire started during the stage 2 load-shedding which was set for Group 5 in Tshwane from 20:00 to 22:30 last week Thursday.
Phodesta said they were preparing supper when the lights went off because of load-shedding.
Due to winter colds, the couple said they went to bed early to get warm.
She said they forgot to switch off the stove as they went to bed.
Phodesta recalled waking up in the middle of the night in a house full of smoke, unable to see anything.
The elderly couple, who are both on chronic medication and have asthma, said they were lucky to be alive since the neighbours heard them screaming for help.
The couple said they could not see anything, except for the pot that turned red from the stove that was left on.
“We screamed for help and luckily our neighbours came to the rescue,” said Phodesta.
“They forced the door open and poured water on the burning pot,” said Phodesta.
The couple inhaled lots of smoke in their sleep from the burning pot and they could not breathe properly.
“We nearly lost our four-roomed house we built from the ground,” Lazarus said.
The couple has been staying in the same house since 1994.
“The government needs to do something about load-shedding and quickly,” said Lazarus.
He added the load-shedding period sometimes exceeded more than 12 hours and this gave criminals an advantage to start robbing people in Mahube extension 2.
Their neighbour, Elias Masemola added that it was no longer safe to walk at night.
“We are experiencing a lot of burglaries in the area.”
ALSO READ: Community safety a priority in North during blackouts
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
