Woman left wheelchair-bound after trying to flee a burning Durban building during civil unrest

Bee Mtetwa had, during the unrest in July, fallen from the burning City Life building in Durban central. Her foot was split and had to be re-attached.

Bee Mtetwa had, during the unrest in July, fallen from the burning City Life building in Durban central. Her foot was split and had to be re-attached.

Published Sep 7, 2021

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A DURBAN woman who fell from the burning City Life building during the July unrest and injured her foot, said she was filled with rage.

Bee Mtetwa, a self-employed make-up artist, spoke exclusively to the Daily News this week, recalling her trauma. She said she gets frustrated each time she watches the video that went viral, of her falling from the building, because it brought back the trauma.

“The fact that I had to return to the City Life building, the same place I escaped death, pained me.

“I have no words for the person who burned the building. It is inhumane of whoever burned the building. It was unnecessary, selfish, and inconsiderate. They were burning something that did not belong to them, and put people’s lives at great risk,” she said.

Bee Mtetwa had, during the unrest in July, fallen from the burning City Life building in Durban central. Her foot was split and had to be re-attached.

After spending almost a month in hospital where she underwent surgery in which her ankle had to be reconnected to the bone, Mtetwa said she still cannot walk, and is forced to use a wheelchair.

“I'm a make-up artist, I can't walk, so I have to use my hands and this has been very difficult. Emotionally I'm drained, but I am grateful that my family was there for me throughout. I know they’re as angry as I am.”

Mtetwa was furious with City Life management because they “showed no care” during the incident.

“I could not work for a long time. They never bothered to call and check up on me. The ladder which broke when I was trying to escape is theirs, but they still dared to force me to pay rent when I was in the hospital fighting for my life,” she said.

Asked why she could not use the building’s lift, she said it all happened so quickly and everyone in the more than 10-storey building was in a panic trying to escape the fire as firefighters had told everyone to immediately vacate the building.

“The fire was started the previous day when the looters burnt the shop that is under our building. Initially, we were told it was safe; however, the smoke never stopped. When residents noticed the fire was still burning, we were all told to run for our lives. There was a lot of screaming. Some of us had to escape through the ladder which was already broken, but tore off when I tried escaping,” Mtetwa said.

City Life assistant operations manager Mpilo Zuma said they had tried to find Mtetwa, but could not reach her as they did not know which hospital she was in. Operations manager Velemseni Ngwenya said he had since sent for someone to check up on Mtetwa, adding it was untrue that they did not care about the residents. He could not respond when asked whether they would arrange therapy for those affected.

Daily News

Related Topics:

Civil Unrest