16 Apr 2019

Two people sustained minor injuries after their house caught fire last week.

The two, a 61-year-old woman and her 13-year-old grandson of Ramoshana ward at Letlhakane East lost all their possessions when a fire, which was caused by lightning burned down their one-bedroomed house.

According to the victim, Ms Khumoetsile Segogwane, when lightning struck on that fateful night, it first hit her while she was sleeping, causing her legs to go weak.

She noted that it was then that her grandson informed her that the house was on fire and the two fought their way out of the room, which was engulfed in smoke.

Ms Segogwane said the neighbours assisted in putting out the fire, while others called the fire brigade department, but to no avail.

“We contacted the Lobatse fire brigade, but they said we were not in their area of operation, promising that they would inform the Kanye fire brigade, who never responded up to now, not to even come to assess the extent of the fire afterwards,” she said.

She said the fire left her homeless, as it destroyed her only house, all her belongings which included a bed, mattresses, headboard, dressing table, dining table, Radio, and crockery.

She said the social worker based in the village and the Southern District Council’s social and development committee paid her a visit to ascertain the damage and determine how they could assist.

“So far they have promised to provide us with the tents as we do not have shelter.

We are a large family of eight and we need a bigger tent,” she said.

She said her family was in dire need for accommodation and clothing as her children could not afford to assist due to unemployment.

She further lamented that the school uniform and stationery for the children were all destroyed by the fire. Her last hope is on the social worker.

Kanye fire brigade station officer, Mr Motswagole Orapeleng stated in an interview that they responded to the emergency call and  firefighters were dispatched to the area, but the team was unable to locate the place, whereupon they speculated it might have been a false call.

“My team searched the area for quite some time following the directions from the caller.

We were also unable to reach the caller when we wanted to seek further direction from him as his phone rang unanswered,” he said.

He indicated that the station was still undergoing refurbishment having been opened in 2017.

“Our toll free line is not functioning for now, but we have since written a memo to all our clients to inform them of the numbers to call in cases of emergency,” he said.

He however promised that they would visit the victims to establish the cause and extent of the fire damages. ENDS