Building a new shack. Photos: Marnette Meyer

A man from Witsand died in a shack fire over the weekend. According to Witsand residents the fire was raging out of control when they woke up at 3 am on Sunday morning. Flames as high as the trees surrounding the shacks consumed six of the makeshift homes as well as the life of one man.

By Wednesday morning DNA tests were been done on the deceased in order to identify him and the survivors of the fire were trying to rebuild their lives.

Constable Debbie Alard with community worker Linah Neam (in orange) and Annaleen van Coller from the Melkbosstrand Neighbourhood Watch and Frank Thipa (far right).

Flames as high as the trees
An air of fatalism hung over this part of the settlement. Frank Thipa, who was busy erecting the framework of a new shack, told Melkbos.net, “When I went to bed at 8 0’ clock the music was playing and they were drinking. The people were drinking the whole night.

By the luck of God I woke up at 3 am. It must have been from the smell of fire. The fire was as high as the trees,”  he said pointing at the blackened trees looming over the shacks and charred patch of earth. “My wife was screaming. I tried to fight the fire,” Frank said, pointing at a bucket standing nearby. “You don’t have a chance,” Ntsikelelo Small Thipa interrupted him.

It’s not the first time these people have experienced a fire in the settlement. Frank recalled a fire in 2012. This time he managed to save a fridge, but not the beds.

Melkbosstrand police, Melkbos Neighbourhood Watch, Atlantis Police, the Melkbosstrand Community Center and Table View Angels have donated items ranging from food and clothes to bedding. According to the City of Cape Town 23 people have already died in fires this winter.