The last time Zibele Mjila saw his family was when he left for work on Monday. He returned home to a tragic scene, where his three children and their mother were killed in a shack fire in Browns Farm, Philippi.
The bodies of his partner, Nomsa Dyantyi, 8-year-old daughter Neliswa Dyantyi and 10-year-old boy Vuyani Dyantyi were recovered the same night, while 4-year-old Aphelele Dyantyi was found on Tuesday.
Mjila’s 14-year-old daughter was watching TV at a neighbour’s house.
“I was at work at the time. No one called me about the fire. When I arrived, our double shack had already collapsed. My daughter informed me she was not there at the time.
“I know residents tried in vain to save them, but the fire started downstairs and the burglar bars were locked. I will not forget the image I saw of my partner and children.
“The pain was worse when I had to go back at the scene and search for the last body,” he said.
The gushing flames were seen at about 8.20pm by a resident. The fire came a day after the City said 511 people had been killed in fire-related incidents between January 2015 and June this year.
Resident Themba Maweya, who lost everything in the fires, said: “I was in bed with my wife watching TV when my two children came running saying the residents were calling people to come out.
"While we were outside, the fire came into our bedroom and spread fast. We couldn’t save anything.”
Maweya and other residents believe that the family could have been saved if firefighters had arrived on time.
They blamed residents of Ramaphosa informal settlement in Gugulethu who had been behind the torching of a fire station during a protest.
“If they didn’t burn the fire station, only a few shacks would have been burnt. Firefighters were moved to Mitchells Plain, which is a long distance from here. The City’s fire and rescue service took time to arrive.”