Ndabeni-Abrahams slams journos for seeing her burning house as a photo op

Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams confirmed that her house in Mthatha, Eastern Cape was on fire on Sunday morning.

In a message on Facebook, she shared a picture of the blaze and took the opportunity to criticised members of the media who  asked if they could take pictures.

“My house is burning and all they see is a story in it that they must be allowed to take pictures. God bless journalists,” she said sarcastically.

The minister did not, however, seem to see the house fire as too much of a setback, as she was back on Facebook about half an hour later to post about how she was about to “kick start” the ministerial executive season.

This, she added, will be part of a government technology program that is taking place from today until October 31, and aims at “achieving the economic growth through digital transformation and leveraging 4IR and beyond”.

DispatchLive reported that firefighters and community members had to rush to Ndabeni-Abrahams’ house to try and put the fire out, as the minister herself had just landed in Durban at the time.

No injuries were reported, and two fire trucks were on the scene.

“We are still here trying to put the fire out. Many things, including her furniture have burnt down. We do not know the cause of this fire yet,” said a man, who asked not to be named.

In a statement, the minister said she had just arrived in Durban for the GovTech program when she received news that her Mthatha house was on fire.

“At this stage, we do not know what happened as there was no one in the house and we are now waiting for reports from the investigation. At this juncture, we would not want to speculate as all of us were not there. We are deeply saddened but we trust our God will pull us through this and He will give us strength to build another home for our children.

“We thank our family, friends and loved ones for your outpour of love and concern; and we know that our God has not forsaken us,” she said.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman.) 

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