IF it was not for Mmuso Mahetlane (35), a woman would have died in her shack in Wolwerivier, Cape Town on Sunday 27 August.
What happened?
His neighbour, Joeslen Isaacs (21), had gone out with friends to have a good time on Saturday night, 26 August, and returned home at about 4am on Sunday.
About an hour later, Mmuso said he heard someone scream and woke up.
"To my shock, I saw an unusual light inside my shack and I knew something was wrong," he said.
Mmuso to the rescue
Mmuso went outside and saw that his neighbour's shack was on fire. He broke the door, went inside and pulled Joeslen out of the burning shack.
"She tried to run away after I pulled her out of the fire because she was confused about what was happening. I held her tight and when she calmed down, I let her go and she went to her friend's house.
"I got worried as I didn't know whether her child was in the burning house or not," he said.
Mmuso said he was relieved to learn that the child had spent the night in another house because the mum had gone out.
He said when Joeslen returned to the burning shack, she said her home was on fire and it seemed she did not know how she came out of the flames.
"I told her to thank God that she was still alive, and she broke into tears," he said.
Joeslen taken to the clinic
Joeslen's young sister took her to the clinic where she was treated for burns.
Another neighbour, Babalwa Ziqosho (33), said Joeslen had severe burns.
"She had burns on her hands, face and the T-shirt she was wearing had also caught fire," Babalwa said.
Mmuso said the shack fire didn't spread, so they didn't call firefighters.
The City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Department said there were no records of a fire incident recorded from the area.
