XOLA Sofika (49) from Mandela Park in Khayelitsha lost everything when his shack burned down on Wednesday.
He said he had gone out for just a few minutes. On his way back he saw smoke, but did not realise it was coming from his shack.
He doesn’t know how the fire started.
“I cannot believe that I lost everything in a space of 15 minutes,” said Xola, who is unemployed.
He told the SunTeam he worked extra hard to get his few possessions, but now all of it was gone. Now he needs materials to rebuild his shack.
“To lose everything at this time of the year is very painful,” he said.
“Still, I am glad I was not there and that the fire did not affect the house next to my shack.”
A witness, Mfundiso Mfeketho (25), said: “At first I thought it was just smoke, but when I came closer I noticed that the shack was on fire.”
He said residents tried to douse the fire but there was a big problem: no water.
“We were forced to fetch water from far away from Xola’s shack.
“Although we saw the fire early, we could not save anything.”
Theo Layne, spokesman for Cape Town Fire and Rescue, said one wood and iron structure in Yusuf Dadoo Street in Mandela Park was destroyed by fire at about 2pm.
He said the cause of the fire had not been determined.
