By Zandile Nyathikazi
A home in Congo, a location at Inanda township was engulfed in flames in the early hours of Friday morning, in a fire suspected to have been caused by a power surge.
Credible Source gathered that some of the Thabethe family members were attending a funeral at uLundi, when the incident happened. It was also established that the fire started around 10am as it destroyed the living room, the room next to it with the furniture burned to ashes. Fire fighters responded to the scene to find most parts of the house severely burnt and no injuries were reported.
One of the family members, Mlindi Thabethe, who didn’t attend the funeral claimed that he received a call that told him that the house is burning.
“I was on my way to work when I received a call that my house was burning. I rushed back to find firefighters and paramedics at the scene. We are left with nothing, it’s only the walls since our clothes, furniture and other essential things were burnt,” Thabethe said.
Nomusa Hadebe, a neighbour to the Thabethe family, witnessed the fire as it slowly engulfed the house.
“We watched helplessly as the flames destroyed everything. It’s painful because tomorrow it could be one of us. We are now helping the family with clothes and food until they get proper help from the community committee,” she said.
The Verulam Fire Department spokesperson, Irish Pillay, said they responded quickly to curb the fire from burning the house into ashes.
“After we were alerted by residents, our fire crews responded quickly. Our teams managed to contain the fire before it spread to nearby homes. The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” said Pillay.
Ward councillor Siyabonga Mfeka, alluded to the fact that electricity problems have been a thorn to the community of Inanda.
“Unstable electricity has been a long-standing problem in Inanda. It’s time for authorities to act before more families suffer like this, the Thabethe family has lost everything,” Mfeka said.
He added that the family will receive relief support from his office until they recover from this incident.
While no injuries were reported, the contents of the house were completely destroyed. The fire reignited concerns over the dangers posed by frequent load-shedding and unstable electricity supply in Durban.
On the other hand, Eskom continues to advise residents to turn off sensitive appliances before load shedding to prevent them from being damaged by power surges when power is restored and also encourages the public to take preventive measures to protect their homes and properties from potential hazards related to power surges and illegal connections.
