Retirees fight house fire issues

AN agitated pensioner couple watched 50 years of their hard work and savings burn to the ground as a fire gutted their Hlabisa home.

Belatedly reported, according to Fanini Sithole (69), in late October last year a blaze broke out, engulfing his entire home in flames before the relevant authorities arrived on scene to help.

‘It was a Thursday afternoon at around 3:30pm.

‘I had just left home to go to the post office which is about one kilometre away from my house.

‘When I got to the post office my wife called me.

‘She was in distress and told me I had to come home immediately as our house was on fire.’

Mr Sithole’s wife, Queen (63), was washing clothes outside when she noticed smoke, but failed to realise it was coming from their home.

By the time she noticed, the flames had already reached the ceiling.

Mr Sithole said when he arrived on scene one of the bedrooms was engulfed in flames and the house was completely filled with smoke.

He said the Hlabisa Fire Department, which is situated some 700 metres away, arrived at his home completely unprepared.

‘They arrived with a 2.5 Toyota Hilux bakkie which can hold 200 litres of water.

‘Apparently their big truck was not working and hadn’t been for three months.

‘They were not able to put out the fire because they ran out of water.’

He noted that by the time the 2 000 litre fire truck arrived from Hluhluwe Fire Station, some 105 kilometres away, their three bedroomed house had been reduced to a pile of smoldering embers.

With the help of community members the Sithole’s only managed to salvage a few items for their common room.

A day later Mr Sithole approached the Hlabisa Disaster Management Department for assistance with an RDP home and has not received any feedback to this day.

According to a fire fighter at the Hlabisa Fire Station, their main fire truck had not been functioning or months but was currently being repaired.

‘It has also been difficult because there is not enough water in the area,’ he told the ZO.

Conflicting claims

In a meeting organised by the Mayor of Hlabisa, Councillor VF Hlabisa, Mrs Queen Sithole allegedly raised the concern that fire fighters should be equipped with emergency water to assist in obvious cases like hers.

According to Mr Sithole, the response from the mayor was ‘very discouraging’.

‘He said that is not their business, and each home must equip itself with firefighting equipment.

‘This came as a shock to me because we did have a fire extinguisher in our home; we just couldn’t get to it because of the fire.’

Mayor Hlabisa defended his municipality, saying Hlabisa is a small municipality and does not have the luxury of big fire trucks – contrary to information obtained by the ZO from the Hlabisa Fire Station.

‘The bigger trucks belong to the uMkhanyakude District,’ he said, also claiming the municipality is not responsible for investigating what caused the fire.

‘We do not investigate fires at private properties; only at public property or entities.

‘As for Mr Sithole, he does not qualify for an RDP house – his living standards are far above the qualification, which is probably why he has not been contacted by the Hlabisa Disaster Management.

‘It is unfortunate that he lost his home.

‘It is a mistake that we all make, we build big homes but do not take insurance, it’s something we can afford but we don’t do.’

The Sithole’s have been put up by their daughter while they try to put together the pieces of the puzzle that led to the destruction of their home.

Their plight is yet another reminder of the water shortages facing the region.

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