A mother and her baby (1) died consumed by fire whilst desperately trying to escape their scorching demise – their blackened, charred bodies a reminder of the terrible end they were forced to endure.
On Friday, March 1, it is alleged that Portia Masuku told her boyfriend, a 21-year-old man, that she was leaving him.
According to family members, Masuku no longer wanted to live with him in their shack in Spring Valley, and informed him that she would be moving out to rekindle her romance with her baby daughter’s father who lived elsewhere.
“We’ve heard from the community that at approximately 03:30 on March 1, Masuku and her boyfriend started arguing. Community members allege that the dispute quickly escalated into a physical fight, ending in domestic violence. We’ve been told by community members that once the fight was over, that the man stormed out of the shack,” Witbank SAPS spokesperson Capt Eddie Hall related.
The shack was ablaze soon afterwards with the mother and child as well as other occupants still inside.
“Witbank SAPS responded to a distress call from Spring Valley Community Policing Forum (CPF), who had been the first responders on the scene. It is alleged that while the shack was ablaze, residents of Spring Valley started demolishing it – ripping it apart piece by piece in order to try and save the screaming occupants. Grandparents of the family, as well as an uncle, managed to escape through a window.
Masuku and her baby daughter, Ntokozo Sakhile Simelane, were not so lucky. Their burned bodies were already lying outside, curled up into human-question marks, at the time that Witbank SAPS responded to the distress call,” Witbank SAPS spokesperson Capt Eddie Hall explained.
It is still not known how the fire started.
WITBANK NEWS visited Spring Valley and were met by Busi Ngozi, an aunt of the family.
“Portia was always a very social and friendly girl who spent most of her time out with friends – she wasn’t going to school because she was raising her daughter,” Ngozi said, “the family is broken by her passing.”
A suspect has been arrested by Witbank SAPS.
Two counts of murder, attempted murder and a count of arson are being investigated.
