Circumstances surrounding Ext 71 shack fire under investigation
A mentally challenged man without permanent employment was also present when another section of their RPD house caught fire a few times before.
POLOKWANE – It had not been the first time his mentally challenged brother had been part of the circumstances surrounding a fire at the home they stay in.
This is according to Moses Kgapane from Extension 71 in Seshego who says last Friday, his brother left home “to go and hustle” as he usually does.
According to Kgapane, his brother who is in his twenties, sleeps in a shack next to their RDP house.
“I woke up to the smell of smoke and realised everything was on fire.”
By the time he and the neighbours managed to douse the flames and the fire services personnel arrived, everything had burned to ashes.
“I was just relieved to find out that my brother was not in the shack when it caught fire, but he had already gone,” he sighed.
He says an application for assistance for his brother, from Social Development has not been forthcoming “after a considerable number of years”.
The man, survived only by Kgapane, is without permanent employment and was also present when another section of their RPD house caught fire a few times before.
Last Friday, his brother returned home to the ordeal, but with little understanding of what had occurred, Kgapane said.
“We are no longer going to pursue government’s help assist as nothing has come of our previous requests.”
Departmental spokesperson Joshua Kwapa said they would investigate the matter.
“We would first need to request a medical report for the brother and assess why the family has still not been assisted by government and take it from there,” he added.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, a fire services official confirmed on the scene.
