Experts analyse Westenburg house fire samples
Mahlatse Maboya was confirmed by police to have been a substance abuser who would often start an open fire when his family members were at work.
POLOKWANE – Two weeks ago, fire experts took samples to determine the cause of the fire which engulfed a house in Westenburg on October 11, in which a man died.
This followed the filing of an inquest and an arson docket, after preliminary police investigations pointed to several possible causes, after the 23-year-old Mahlatse Maboya endured scourging flames and burned to death in a vehicle in the yard.
Maboya was confirmed by police to have been a substance abuser who would often start an open fire when his family members were at work, and while the Westenburg police await results, investigations are underway to determine if the incident was drug-related.
The provincial 2023/24 fourth quarter crime statistics show that drug-related crimes face an upward trajectory with 482 more cases reported in that period, from 1 251 reported the previous quarter.
Malicious damage to property, which has been identified by police in the statistics as a close ally to arson and drug-related crimes, has been recorded 256 times at provincial police stations, adding to the 1 771 from the previous quarter.
Referringn to witness information provided in this case about Maboya’s drug habits, the police, a rehabilitation expert and Sanca Polokwane point out that some substance abusers at a crucial stage experience withdrawal symptoms.
“As a result, they may do things that are deemed extreme or unusual as a response to a feeling of hotness or coldness, such as wearing a jersey or making a fire, while they are not cognitively capable of being careful around it,” Sanca’s Tiisetso Mokwena said.
Last week, Social Development MEC Nandi Ndalane said state treatment centres such as the one in Seshego were not being used to full capacity and she invited those who are affected by substance abuse or its adverse effects to seek help.
“The centre currently has 34 patients admitted, which equates to a 62% occupancy rate. There are 32 males and two females but the centre has an occupation capacity of 54 people and is yet to be used to its maximum,” she concluded.
