An attempted murder case was opened at the Sandringham Police Station against the alleged arsonist, now deceased who left 450 Alex families homeless.
This is according to Alex Police Station spokesperson Captain Stephen Malatji who attended the arson scene on 6 December and escorted the man to the Alexandra Police Station with the angry arson victims following behind. Malatjie said the man from Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal later died in hospital from the injuries sustained when he was attacked at the scene of arson across Vincent Tshabalala Road which is under the jurisdiction of the Sandringham Police Station. The police escorted him to nearby Alexandra Police Station from where he was taken to the hospital. “At one point, as we shielded him, he was hit on the back of his head with a brick causing blood splashes from his mouth,” Malatji said.
He said a preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased is said – in initial reports – to have set alight a girlfriend’s shack after a quarrel setting off the inferno, had instead, doused another man with petrol and set him alight in a fight the previous day. “The victim was taken to a hospital for the treatment of his injuries and his family opened the attempted murder case against him (deceased) at the Sandringham Police Station. The ongoing investigation is for the attempted murder against the deceased and also for the arson and death of the suspect.”
EFF proportional representative councillor Oupa Sako who knew the deceased doubted that he caused the costly inferno. “He possibly paid the ultimate price for associating with a gang said to have caused the fire. “He was pounced on when he appeared at the scene alone.” He said the fight mentioned by Captain Malatji was from a drunken brawl between a group associated with the injured man and one associated with alleged deceased arsonist which returned the following day starting the inferno at the injured man’s place presumably in revenge for the previous day’s brawl. “The party is disturbed by such incidents which should be avoided to prevent loss of life. “These people are generally not violent and these incidents can be avoided if authorities are pushed to provide promised land and accommodation for decent homes.”
