'Vutha' goes after Abongile's ears!

ABONGILE Maseti (31) from the KTC area in Gugulethu, Cape Town, can't help but thank God and his ancestors.

This after he his ears burnt in a shack fire that happened in the early hours of last Tuesday morning, 27 February.

Speaking to Daily Sun, the fire victim said he came back from working late at about 2am on the day of the incident.

When he arrived, there was no electricity, so he decided to sleep and didn't switch on the stove or light a candle.

Instead, he lit the house using his phone. Two hours later, at about 4am when the electricity came back, his shack caught alight.

But Abongile is still confused as to why the fire started from the bed since he didn't have any electrical connections on or near his bed.

Despite losing all his belongings and sustaining injuries on both his ears, Abongile said he was glad the fire started from the bed and not anywhere else.

"If the fire had started elsewhere in the house, I would have taken longer to wake up and would have probably died. The moment that I felt the fire on my bed, I quickly jumped to the door, unlocked it, and ran out. The smoke and fire had not spread through the house at that moment, so it was easy for me to escape," he said.

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Community leader Lumkile Msila said they are sad about the developments but also glad that no one died from the fire.

"It could have been worse because it is rare to see people surviving a shack fire that starts when they are inside. We are glad that he survived," said Msila.

Sangoma Lonwabo Mqungwana (59) from Mbekweni outside Cape Town said the fire could be vutha.

"When the fire starts from the bed or under the bed, it's vutha. Someone wanted him dead while sleeping on his bed. The fact that he burnt both ears, he must be thankful to his strong ancestors. Burning the eyes while he was sleeping is sort of sending a message to him about the danger that was about to happen," said the sangoma.

Jermaine Carelse, a spokesman for Fire Service in the City of Cape Town, said they received an emergency call at about 4.20am.

"Crews from Gugulethu, Mitchells Plain, Lakeside, Landsdowne Road and Ottery fire stations attended to the scene with a total of eight firefighting vehicles and 30 staff on scene. By 6am, the fire was extinguished after it destroyed 20 structures, one formal dwelling and left over 30 persons displaced. No injuries/fatalities were reported, and the cause is unknown," said Carelse.