Cape Town - Two-year-old Kietshepile Nakin died alone in a shack while her mom went out with a boyfriend.
The toddler was sleeping when her home caught fire in Witsand, Atlantis, on Friday .
The two-year-old’s charred remains were found among the ruins of her home.
Now residents want the child’s mom to be arrested for neglect.
Neighbours say Deboseng Nakin, 36, had left the child in the care of her grandmother and went to sleep at her boyfriend’s house nearby.
But the grandmother left for work the next morning, leaving the child sleeping alone inside the backyard shack of the family house.
An unattended electric stove is believed to have caused the blaze that partially destroyed a portion of the house.
When the Daily Voice visited the house on Wednesday, family members were busy tidying the house. A photograph of Kietshepile was hanging against a charred wall.
Deboseng said she regrets leaving her child for a boyfriend.
“I did not expect this to happen,” she said.
“I left her in the care of my mother, but she went to work in the morning.
“I still can’t believe this, it’s hard to accept. I am very much hurt.”
The child’s aunt, Nthuliseng Nakin, 28, said residents had tried to douse the fire with buckets of water. But the blaze had already covered the shack.
“The flames were coming out from under the door,” she said.
“I knew then that the child will not come out alive, it’s very sad.
“We will miss the baby, because she was a playful child who liked to sing.
“The family is angry and very sad because of what happened.”
Atlantis police said an inquest docket has been opened.
Daily Voice