Four families from the Homu Village in section 14C in Giyani still fear for their lives after their houses were burnt down by angry villagers who accused them of practicing witchcraft. The incident happened on Sunday night.

The four families, the Mathebulas, Mbombis, Mathiwasas and Mkharis, had to sleep in the open on the verandas of their houses after the attacks. Furniture, groceries, blankets and clothing, such as school uniforms, valued at almost R12 000, were lost in the flames, leaving the families homeless and without food.

Three other houses were burnt down in the same area last year after villagers accused their owners of being responsible for the mysterious deaths of four people in the village. In all the incidents, the affected families were pensioners and traditional healers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Two school children, Mathimba (11) and Musa Mothoki (8), who lived with their grandparents in the houses, have not been going to school since Monday as their uni-forms and books were destroyed in the fires.

One of the villagers who extended a helping hand to the families is Mr Moses Thembe, the chief executive officer of the Kwangulatilo Combined School in Giyani and the ANC’s chief whip in the Mopani district municipality. Tembe said he was moved by the plight of the children and believed it was the responsibility of the community to raise these children. He further added that intervention was needed to change the lives of the children for the better.

Members of the South African Police Service in Giyani also donated school uniforms, shoes, school bags, blankets and food parcels to the children of all the affected families.

One of the children, Mathimba Mathoki, acknowledged that “We are very happy for the donations. Though we are behind in our school work, we will work hard and use other children’s notes to catch up with the rest of the children.”

The children, together with their grandparents, had to escape through a window from the fire that engulfed their house. The house was allegedly set on fire by a group of angry residents after they accused the children’s grandparents of being behind the mysterious death of a local soccer player a week ago.