A single mother of two is homeless after a fire destroyed her house.

Tshifhiwa Makhoshi (35), of Tshiseluselu in the Khubvi area, was on her way to work when she received a call from a neighbour, who told her that her six-roomed house was burning. Makhoshi works for an NGO, Gundo Community.

She said it felt as if she was dreaming when she arrived at home to see that the house that had taken her three years to build was destroyed in a few minutes.

The unfortunate incident happened last Wednesday morning. Makhoshi believes the fire was caused by a candle that was left burning by her children, when they left for school at around 05:45. The damaged caused to the furniture and other belongings is estimated to R70 000, while the damage caused to the building is estimated to be R100 000.

Makhoshi said she could not believe that she was homeless. "When I left for work this morning, I was a proud owner of six-roomed house.  Now I am homeless.  It is hard to believe that I have nothing, not even clothes or groceries. It is painful, but God is the only one who knows why it happened to me," said Makhoshi, a devoted Christian.

Makhoshi moved into her new house barely a year ago. She says she will be forced to go back to her mother's place, Khubvi, where she will squat with her children. "We have been waiting for electricity for too long in this area. If Eskom had kept its promise of electrifying our houses by April last year, I would still be living in my house now,” she added.

At the time of going to press, Makhoshi was receiving support from sympathetic community members in the form of groceries and blankets.