Inquest after man dies in a fire

An inquest docket has been opened after a man died in a fire at 1950 Batswaneng Section in Khutsong on Monday
11 September. The 55-year-old Pule Hendrick Moeketsane was fast asleep when the flames engulfed the house. The
fire is believed to have been caused by a candle and started at around 01:00, according to his sister, Lydia Molale,
who heard about the tragedy early on Tuesday morning. The neighbour, Semakaleng Mohaose was woken up by the sound of bursting window panes. She went out to investigate and saw a man with a bucket. She tried to help him douse the fire but, when the window panes started exploding all around them, they fled. She was called to the scene
The victim’s other sister, who lives nearby, came to the yard and blew the whistle to get all the community members
to help break down the door and put out the fire. ‘There was so much smoke in the house, you could not see anything,’ said the neighbour. She used her phone torch to look through the window and noticed that the victim was lying flat on the bedroom floor where the fire started. They managed to go inside and pull the victim out. Although he had no burns at all, he had succumbed to smoke inhalation at the scene. The victim was a well-respected visual
artist who lived alone. His community knew him as a quiet, soft-spoken and loving Rastaman. ‘Our family keeps asking ourselves how this could have happened,’ says Moeketsane’s sister. ‘I am traumatised by the incident to a
point where I cannot even eat,’ said the neighbour. The victim was buried at Khutsong Ext.4 graveyard on Saturday 16 September.