Ngono family in Langa is appealing to the public to assist with whatever so that they can to bury family members who died in a shack fire on Sunday 27 November.
Siblings Sinesipho Ngono (30) and Mbewukazi (24)) and an unknown man perished when fire swept through their shack at Joe Slovo informal settlement.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
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When City Vision visited the family on Tuesday 29 November the shack was already rebuilt, however, relatives were still searching for burial answers.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Cebisa Ngono said they were distraught by the incident.
She added they were trying to come to terms with the incident.
“It was about 01:00 when one of the deceased’s friends arrived in my shack to inform me that my sister’s shack was on fire. I took a gown, put it on and we left.
“On the way to the scene, I told the guy that I was walking with that my instinct tells me that something bad had happened. And he asked me how I felt, I told him my body tells me. I said to him, let’s first go to my sister’s shack (in Joe Slovo) to inform her, together with her husband, which we did,” said Cebisa.
She said on their way to the scene she stood at a distance and allowed her sister and her husband to go to the scene.
On their arrival, the shack was already in ruins.
“While I was standing at a distance I heard some people talking saying that there are three bodies that were found at the scene. My sister’s husband checked and confirmed everything.
“I’m still hurt. We don’t know what to do, how are we going to bury them,” she sobbed, adding that the family was still to meet to formalise funeral arrangements. Cebisa stated that they would love her siblings to be buried in their home town of Tsomo, Eastern Cape.
Efforts to get a comment from Ward 52 councillor Thembelani Nyamakazi were fruitless. He refused to comment on the matter. City Vision sent him a WhatsApp message on Sunday afternoon about the incident. He read it but didn’t respond.
When we phoned him on Monday 28 November morning he said he was in a meeting and instructed us to call him again after 14:00 which we did but he didn’t pick up the phone.
He only responded in the evening (19:51) through a WhatAapp message stating that the family was not comfortable talking about the incident, therefore he also won’t comment. “No, the family is not comfortable talking about this and I have to respect. The information you need will be revolving around this. I will rather not involve myself,” responded Nyamakazi.
Langa Police Station spokesperson Capt Nondumiso Paul confirmed the incident. She said an inquest docket has been opened.
“On Sunday 27 November at approximately 01:52, Langa police officers were called to the scene in Joe Slovo. Upon their arrival, they saw a shack that was burned down. Inside the shack, they discovered three identified bodies that were burned beyond recognition”.