Community members from Ha-Mamuhoyi village in the Nzhelele area are still in shock, following an incident where the Netshituni family’s house burnt down on Sunday morning.

According to granny Emma Netshituni, the incident happened at around 11:00. Netshituni indicated that she was with her husband and two grandchildren in the house. “I left my two grandchildren in the house. I was then alerted by my neighbours that there was a burning smell. I rushed back and, on my arrival, found that the house was on fire,” she said.

The community quickly called the Louis Trichardt Fire Brigade, but as the latter were al-ready busy at Waterval, they asked for assistance from Thulamela. The Gabriel Ramushwana unit from Thulamela responded very quickly, but the fire had unfortunately already caused severe damage. Netshituni said that she suspects the fire may have been caused by the grandchildren in the house. When she found them, they were playing with a box of matches.

Netshituni said that the fridge, kitchen unit, beds, TV, money, clothes and furniture had been destroyed by the fire. The damage is estimated to be several thousands of rands.