Man dies in Atteridgeville shack fire
The 32-year-old was sleeping when his home caught fire.
A 33-year-old man died in a shack fire at an informal settlement in Atteridgeville on Sunday, August 7.
The deceased, Tsietsi Ledwaba, was sleeping when the four-room shack caught fire during the early hours of Sunday.
Community leader Samuel Masilela said the fire was detected by the neighbours around 02:00 after they smelt the smoke.
He said the deceased was alone in the house as his family went to spend the long weekend in Limpopo.
“We don’t know what caused the fire but we do know that it did not start in the kitchen,” he said.
“The fire started in one of the bedrooms and rapidly spread to the rest of the house.”
Masilela told Rekord the fire was extinguished by community members with buckets of water.
He said it took them about two hours to extinguish the fire.
“We were not aware that Tsietsi was in the house when the fire started. We thought he had gone to visit a friend,” Masilela added.
“We searched for him all around our community only to find out that he was in the house the whole time.”
He said the 33-year-old was found a few minutes before 05:00 under a pile of burnt zinc sheets.
Masilela said the family lost everything in the fire and have nowhere to stay.
He claimed that the Tshwane firefighters were called “but they didn’t show up”.
He believes that the firefighter truck would have had trouble reaching the shack as it was located on a mountain with tight pathways.
In a video shared by the community leader, smoke could be seen hours after the fire was extinguished.
“I am really hurt because I lost my only son,” said Tsietsi’s mother, Alphina Ledwaba.
She said that while the house was replaceable, her son could never be replaced.
“We were also staying with my sister’s child who is studying at a college not too far from where we stay,” she added.
“He lost all his clothes and school books in the fire.”
The family will return to Limpopo where Tsietsi will be laid to rest.
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