Cape Town - A grandmother’s birthday celebration turned fatal in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain, at the weekend, when the family's house burnt down, leaving one person dead.
The house in Wolfberg Street was destroyed when the fire broke out on Saturday evening.
Laylah Jumat, 38, said the one moment they were celebrating her mother Atonette Meyer’s 64th birthday, and the next, the whole house was engulfed in flames.
She said the fire started in one of the rooms after a wall plug exploded.
“The electricity went off, we punched in units then the plugs caught alight in the room.
“The wendy house at the back also burnt after the two rooms burnt.
“It was not that a flame was made, it was an electrical fault,” she said.
Jumat said strong winds fanned the flames, and the house, including all of her siblings' possessions, were destroyed in a matter of minutes. “To see it gone, just like that... “But Shukr to Allah that all of my family members are okay.
“Everything burnt out, birth certificates, everything.
“My mother doesn’t even have a panty or her chronic medication.
“All of them just have the clothes that they had on. We were cautious at all times, who knew if you punch in units this will happen.”
In an effort to put out the fire, Jumat's brother fell through the roof and suffered burn wounds to his body.
Sergio Harris, 48, a neighbour, tragically perished in the fire while attempting to help the family.
His widow Wilhelmina Harris told the Cape Argus they could only identify her husband by the clothing he was wearing.
“I looked for him because I didn't see him standing with us. I didn’t even know he went in, I asked the forensics and they said there was no one but I told them my husband helped.
“Afterwards they said there is a body and when he came out with the body in the bag I said yes it was my husband. He was supposed to go to work but he wanted to celebrate his grandson’s birthday today.”
Harris said the father of four girls would always go the extra mile to help those in the community.
“He always did it, he was a very good person and he loved kids.
“Everyone understood him.”
The City’s fire and rescue service spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said firefighters responded to the call by 10pm.
“By 11.50pm, firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze that destroyed a formal and an informal dwelling and left 11 persons displaced. Jumat and her family are pleading with the broader public for any assistance to help them rebuild their lives.
If you can assist the family, contact Laylah Jumat at 0740608061.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za