Cape Town - Two separate fires claimed the lives of three people and left at least 15 people destitute on Sunday.
Residents of Better Life settlement in Philippi are baffled by the death of two young people.
The young man and woman were not known to them.
The structure that burnt down was owned by Gcinethemba Ngqakane, a backyarder who was not at home at the time.
It is believed he was aware the two would be spending the night at his place, and gave the young man the key.
The structure is built in the backyard of Philippi resident Nomalizo Tom.
She was alerted to the fire by her daughter, when they were getting ready for church.
"the blaze might have started off as something small because we did not even suspect anything happening in our yard.
“I was in the house and my daughter had just woken up to prepare for church at the time of the incident. When she went outside, she realised something was going on at the back. It came as a big shock to me because I knew that the owner was not around at that time and could not understand who was sleeping inside the shack," she said.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said the incident was under investigation.
"The two unidentified people were fatally injured and an inquest docket has been opened for investigation."
* In Nomzamo, Strand, a fire left 15 people destitute and one man dead.
Six informal structures burned down.
The cause of the fire was unknown but the city's disaster risk management team was assisting.
* Five other people died over the weekend in crashes on the province's roads.
According to provincial traffic spokesman Jacques Mostert, those deaths were only from provincial roads.
"These are the deaths that have been reported this past weekend. One must take note that these deaths are only from provincial roads. The number is set to increase if we add deaths that have happened on municipal roads as well."
A driver carrying five passengers lost control of his vehicle which then overturned at 4am on Saturday on the R303 near Prince Alfred Hamlet.
"There were six occupants in the car, three died, one was severely injured and two got away with no injuries. The cause of the car overturning is still unknown," said Mostert.
On Sundayy morning, one person died in a crash on the R116 near Ashton. The car was driving towards Swellendam and the cause of the crash is also unknown.
"Two vehicles driving in the same direction collided and only one person died."
On Saturday at around 7.30pm, a pedestrian was knocked over and killed on the N2 near Orchard Farm Stall in Grabouw.
Police spokesman Captain FC Van Wyk said the death would be investigated. "A case of culpable homicide has been opened against the death of an unidentified man who was knocked over by a car on Saturday night."
Cape Argus