Brackenhurst family suffers R200k worth of damages in blaze
A distraught family is in despair and appeals for monetary assistance to gradually rebuild their livelihoods after a major setback.
A series of misfortunes have severely set a Brackenhurst family back financially, leaving them with not much choice but to appeal for the community’s much-needed support.
Disastrous events include when the older son in the family survived a car accident in April, while in May the father of the family fell ill and eventually became bedridden.
On June 30, the family of four was devastated after their house was gutted by a fierce blaze, scorching the roof in some rooms and destroying a number of their belongings.
Pensioner Sdondi Julia Mkize said from existing quotations that the roof alone will cost them at least R75 000 to fix and their belongings were worth about R200 000.
“I was in the kitchen preparing to do laundry. I saw smoke coming from one of the rooms. I didn’t realise how intense the fire was until I went out of the kitchen,” she explained.
She called her son, with her bedridden husband being in one of the rooms.
“My son initially thought the smoke was coming from our neighbours as it wasn’t clear where the smoke came from. We then realised that one of the rooms was alight. With the help of our neighbours, we tried to put out the fire. When we tried using a hosepipe but the blaze worsened and all our efforts were exhausted,” said Mkize.
One neighbour rushed to call the fire emergencies, however, by the time they arrived, it was too late.
Mkize said they managed to get her husband out of the house, but the blaze had gutted five rooms.
“Maybe if firefighters arrived on time we could have possibly negated some of the damage. We lost everything, from the dining suite to furniture. Many parts of the house were also affected. To date, we haven’t received any financial assistance from any department or any form of counselling,” she said.
She said they desperately need help in rebuilding her house, but most importantly with any monetary donation that may go towards fixing the roof as summer approaches.
For any donations, contact Mkize on 073 823 1815 or on 083 226 2282.
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