A granny of Xithlelani village outside Malamulele was burnt to death in her shack early on Sunday morning.

Ms Jayela Mathebula (72), was found by her neighbour, Ms Thandi Maluleleke, shortly after midnight after she had noticed a fire. Mathebula was staying alone in the shack. She recently moved from her RDP house to the shack after the RDP house she had received in 2000 nearly collapsed on her. It also leaked during the rainy season.

According to Maluleke, she noticed the fire and she notified other neighbours to come and assist the granny. “We tried to reach to the shack in time, but the door of the shack was already on fire. Another problem is that the whole village is without water, which made it difficult to extinguish the fire,” said Malulele

A relative, Ms Maria Bila, said that they suspected the fire was caused by a candle. "Thieves have stolen the electric cables, so her only option was to use a candle the whole night to scare a large number of rats that were terrorising her,” said Bila.

Khazamula Mikwambani accused the local municipality of failing to provide them with water. “If we'd had water, we could have assisted the granny. We tried to extinguish the fire with soil, but it was unsuccessful,” said Mingwabani.

All Mathebula’s belongings were destroyed by the fire and all the inhabitants of the village were shocked about the incident.

The spokesperson for the police at Malamulele, Insp Mapidani Chauke, said that the police had opened an inquest docket. “The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, but we are still investigating the matter,” Chauke said.