LAKESIDE. – 82-year-old pensioner Meshack  Mofokeng  burned to death in a shack fire  in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The incident happened in Lakeside extension 1. It is suspected that the fire that ended Meshack’s life was started by a candle.

Mofokeng lived alone in the shack at his brother’s home.  On Saturday, Mofokeng was left with his brother’s grandkids who reside in the main house while his brother attended a family matter.

One of the grandkids Nthabeleng Mofokeng says, “We last saw him on Saturday evening. I asked my brother to go and give him food. My brother took hours to come back inside the house and when he came back he told me he had been in the shack chatting to our grandfather Meshack.

“He told me that Meshack had been holding a candle in his hand and that when he advised Meshack to put the candle in a candlestick holder, he chased him away.”

Nthabeleng says they both went to sleep around 01:00 in the morning. “While I was sleeping, I heard someone throwing a stone on top of the house, screaming that there is a fire. I went back to sleep because I thought I was dreaming. The person then started calling me by name and that’s when I woke up.”

Nthabeleng woke up to neighbours already trying to put the fire out with the little water they had in their houses as there was no water in the area.

Neighbour Motlalepule Selaotse says, “We saw the blaze and rushed to the scene. Unfortunately there was no water coming out of our taps. The blaze coming from the shack was very strong. We attempted to t pull Meshack out but unfortunately the fire was too strong.”

Selaotse says her son resorted to using the emergency pipe to get water to put the fire out but unfortunately it was too late for Meshack. Emergency services was called to the scene and declared him dead. 

Family and neighbours said they were all deeply saddened by the manner in which Meshack lost his life.