Pondo Sethole recently spent a day clearing out the wild bushes outside his yard in Dilinde section of Mpheni in the Elim area. After his day's work at around 19:00, he collected the food which his wife prepared in the house, and came to enjoy the dish outside somewhere near a shack.

Soon after, his handicapped 4-year-old son came out of the house and limped past him to go to his neighbour's, as the two homes stood close together. Little did Sethole know that his son had picked up the candle and dumped it under the curtains in his playful acts back in the house.

"I saw dark smoke coming out of my house through the closed windows, roofing and the door," he says. "I lost all appetite at once."

With the help from his neighbours, he tried to extinguish the fire.  All household valuables and groceries which were in that room, had been destroyed by the fire.

"My neighbours donated a blanket each for me, my wife and son," he says in a broken voice. "I lost a fortune: my top brand TV, fridge, blankets, all our clothes, cell phones, wardrobes, bed, fan and ... eish ...u amba ndi u pfa nungo (it's even useless for me to list things I lost in the fire)."

Sethole says that he never noticed his son was alone in the house, because his wife would normally go away with him whenever Sethole was doing any odd work in the home. He adds that he wouldn't totally blame her and condemn her for what had happened. "It might only cause too much chaos in the home," he reasons.

He approximates his loss at the total amount of R20 000. Yet Mpheni is a huge area and much of the area has been without water and electricity for several years. Sethole blames the Makhado Municipality for the lack of service delivery.  "There's no electricity and water," he says and picks up his wet paint brush. He has been cleaning and painting his walls. "How do they expect us to win in times of fires? Accidents like these will always be there. We request our municipality to come and check the damage before we could complete clearing out the mess. They must compensate me for my loss."

The Dilinde Civic was deeply moved by the plight that befell the Sethole family. "We feel sad with what happened in the Sethole family," says secretary of the Civic, Mr Reuben Mbedzi. "In this age, candles will always be a threat for fires in our homes. Government doesn't care about us.  We need electricity."

Sipho Masuka, Ward 15's councillor, confirmed that the Dilinde Civic had informed him about the Sethole case. "There were two fire cases (including the Setholes') which took place in a space of three days at Dilinde. I advised the chairperson of the civic, Mr Obed Maumela to write reports and submit them to me for consideration. I ask the business people and religious community to start to assist the affected families. I can be contacted at 083 494 6406," he said.

Sethole is an employee of the Emmanuel Christian School in Louis Trichardt and he has been on leave when the incident happened.