ALICE Shibanda (22) from Kagiso extension 8, Mogale City, left her children in her shack to wash their clothes outside.
But her eight-month old son Stephens Sambo and his two-year-old brother William will never wear the clothes their mum washed for them.
While Alice was doing their laundry less than 2m away from their shack, it caught fire while the kids were asleep.
The incident happened on Monday afternoon.
Alice was at the tap with her landlord Hetta Kanakang (42).
Hetta told Daily Sun they heard a bang but ignored it because they thought it was the sound of crates falling.
Suddenly, a neighbour jumped over the wall and ran towards them.
“She told us we were standing there while the house was on fire,” said Hetta.
“We left everything and ran to the shack.”
When Hetta and Alice arrived at the door, the fire was burning fiercely.
“It was like a tornado,” she said.
She said when they moved to the side, the fire followed them. While Hetta and Alice were running away from the fire, which apparently chased them all over the yard, the shack burnt to ashes.
Neighbours told the People’s Paper the fire was vutha.
“A normal fire can’t spread that quickly, nor spin like a tornado,” said resident Mbalehle Shabangu (30).
“What we saw was like a movie about witchcraft.”
Alice’s husband Ivo Sambo (27) was at work when the fire broke out.
“I got a call informing me our shack had caught fire. By the time I arrived it was too late,” he said.
Ivo said his children were innocent.
“If it was vutha, why did it have to kill my little angels?” he said.
Alice was still in shock.
“I can’t believe my kids are gone. I don’t see a reason to live without them,” she said.
Police spokesman Captain Mavela Masondo said an inquest docket had been opened.
