KwaThema – The Ngwenya family has been left homeless after a fire started in a bedroom in their house at an electrical plug, allegedly due to a faulty electrical connection, in Rest in Peace on Monday morning.
The burning room was discovered by four-year-old Onkarabile who went into the bedroom to fetch his bicycle and then called his mother for help.
The angry family says the fire started because of a faulty electrical connection which was done in 2014.
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Family member Lindi Ngwenya says in 2014 they reported to the local CCC offices about the faulty electrical challenges they were facing and at this point, they could not buy electricity.
“One of the electrical inspectors told us they would have to dig up the underlying electrical connection because four houses in the block were affected.
“We waited for the metro to respond to our call, but in 2017 we went back to the local CCC offices again and they gave us a new electrical meter box.
“We tried using it, but it was still faulty and they took it back.
“One of the electrical inspectors told us to enjoy the free electricity while we wait for the metro to fix our problem.
“This shocked me because I feared the worst that could happen, but hoped that they would come help us soon; we have being waiting since then,” she says.
Lindi says her worst nightmare became a reality when she was called at work and told her home was on fire.
“The fire had spread to the whole house and the neighbours were helping to put out the fire while we waited for the local fire brigade to arrive,” she adds.
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Another angry family member, Gwen Bam, says they are demanding for the metro to account for their damages.
“We did all that was expected of us, but the metro failed to protect us.
“What if the fire started while they were sleeping in the middle of the night and claimed their lives or burnt the four-year-old?
“We want the metro to cover the costs for all the damages,” she says.
At the time of going to print the metro had not responded to our media inquiry.
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