Pretoria - The unbecoming behaviour of mothers whose five children died in a deadly fire at Itireleng informal settlement near Laudium after they were left unattended inside a shack has been widely condemned by authorities as an “irresponsible act”.
The mothers, who are sisters, were accused of locking their children inside a shack on Saturday night while they went on a drinking spree at a tavern.
They were arrested and would appear in a local Magistrate’s Court on September 6 over a charge of culpable homicide.
Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, E-Government, Research and Development, Mzi Khumalo, lashed at the mothers, saying: “It is grossly irresponsible for adults to leave minor children unattended.”
Khumalo also expressed sadness because of the tragic loss of lives of five children, aged between 1 and 7 and sent condolences to the bereaved families.
He said: “We welcome the swift response by the different government departments and stakeholders when this incident happened. The affected families have been provided with humanitarian support by the Provincial Disaster Management Centre and City of Tshwane Disaster Management.”
He said the provincial government and its social partners would provide counselling, food parcels, a housing or accommodation assessment and assistance upon conclusion of the assessment.
The South African Social Security Agency and the City of Tshwane welfare would assist with burial support once household profiling has been done.
Khumalo said: “The various departments of the Gauteng Provincial Government are currently conducting assessments and profiling the affected communities. Support and assistance will be provided based on the assessments. This unfortunate incident demonstrates that irresponsible behaviour puts the safety of children at risk.”
MMC for Community Safety in Tshwane, Grandi Theunissen, said: “I am saddened to hear about the loss of five innocent children due to a fire incident at Itireleng informal settlement near Laudium.”
He said the two women allegedly left the children unattended in one shack over Saturday night, leading into the early hours of Sunday, August 27, when the fire broke out.
The cause of the fire was still unknown.
Theunissen said: “After receiving a call at approximately 04.26, the City’s Emergency Services Department dispatched various firefighting and support units to the scene. Once at the scene, firefighting operations started as multiple shacks were already engulfed by the fire.”
The firefighters, he said, discovered the children’s remains in the ruins of the shacks.
“The cause of the fire is under investigation. On behalf of the City, I would like to once again express my condolences and deep sympathies to the children’s families and loved ones. I would also like to call on all parents and caregivers to ensure that children are always left under the care of an adult. Let us all learn valuable lessons from this unfortunate incident,” he said.
Pretoria News