A ONE-YEAR-OLD baby girl burned to death in Evaton in the Vaal, south of Joburg, in the early hours of Sunday morning, 16 July.
This after her 30-year-old mother allegedly put the toddler to put, locked the shack and went to a shebeen, forgetting to put out a lit candle in the shack.
The mother, Abongiwe Ntombela, was later called to her home as it had caught on fire. She told Daily Sun this was the first time she left her daughter, Londeka, alone as she always goes everywhere with her.
"I now regret it and wish I could turn back time," she said.
According to one of the neighbours, Dimakatso Mokoena (39), they were drinking with Abongiwe when she took her baby to sleep in their shack.
"She apparently forgot the candle and went to a nearby shebeen. We were woken up by a strong blaze around 2am and we tried to put it out to save the baby, but we were too late," said Dimakatso.
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She added that the community assaulted Abongiwe when they fetched her from the shebeen, accusing her of being negligent.
Gauteng police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo, said the police have opened an inquest docket for investigation and the mother might be charged with child neglect, pending further investigation.
