-
FILE | A man throws water on a shack engulfed in flames in Langa, Cape Town, in this image captured on 16 April 2022.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says the death of three siblings at the Phumasilwe Informal Settlement in Tembisa is a call for action.
The girls Relebohile, Lethabo and Kgothatso Sekaoke, aged between seven and 15, died after their shack was engulfed in flames this past weekend.
During their memorial service at the Sedibeng Primary School, mourners heard they were living in dire conditions.
Lesufi has extended his heartfelt condolences to the family.
“When the teachers were going through their stories, it kept ringing in my mind that how many other families are like this. We must come back to the school and try to identify if there are other children that are going through these difficulties. We are just here today to say farewell to these three beautiful souls to strengthen their family and the school as well.”
Lesufi says this incident must not be left unattended.
“I will liaise with the MEC responsible for education, just to check, not only in this school, but schools around this community. I don’t think we should expose our children to these kinds of things. Children should attend graduation ceremonies, not funerals.”
Teachers at the school expressed concern about the poor living conditions of some of their learners.
One of the teachers, Klaas Mashiane, described the children as bright and promising learners, despite their inability to attend school regularly due to the hardships imposed by their living conditions.
“The problem is they were not coming to school regularly as they were supposed to. I was forced one day to go and fetch them from home. The situation that I have found there was not pleasing. I bought some food for their house. The situation that they are living in was not so nice – it was one shack after the other.”
Police say their mother has been arrested for child neglect and is currently in custody.
In a separate fire incident earlier this year year in May, six family members died at the Marikana Informal Settlement in Kwathema, east of Johannesburg.
More details in the report below:
