Neighbours allege that the house started burning around 03:00 in the morning, and they couldn’t even try to stop the fire because there was no water coming out of the taps in Brandfort.

They allege that no fire truck from the municipality came, and they stood until 07:00 watching the house burn. “When I woke up this morning, I saw a lot of missed calls from people, and that could only mean one thing,” said Neo Mancoe, the owner.

“I live in Welkom with my children, and the house in Brandfort is home, so when I received a text that the house had burned down, I organised transport to Brandfort, and when I got here, everything had been burned. There was nothing left.

“I went to Eskom to ask them to investigate if the fault wasn’t on their side, and they said if the electricity box burned, there’s nothing they could do. But I suspect it is Eskom because they were doing maintenance, and electricity kept going on and off.

“I also passed by the police station, and they said they can’t do anything unless a case is opened. It looks like we’ve hit a dead end,” she said. 

The inside of the burned house, showing the burned double-door fridge.  Photo supplied

OFM News previously reported that several municipalities in the Free State, including Nala and Masilonyana, have been struggling with severe water supply disruptions and power outages for weeks.

In April, it was raised at the Fourth Raadsaal that many municipalities in the province have effectively ‘collapsed’, said Free State FF Plus Member of Provincial Legislature Armand Cloete.

The water shortages are largely attributed to a lack of three-phase electricity, which is necessary to operate the submersible pumps in the boreholes. Without this power, the municipalities are unable to supply water to their residents

Everything that was in the house burned. Photo supplied

“This house that has burned was everything for me and my children, it was home,” said Mancoe. “It still feels like I am dreaming, like I will wake up from a bad dream.

“We lost everything in this fire, and we ask if anyone can assist us with clothes, beds, blankets, two-plate stoves, anything really, we’d really appreciate any kind of assistance.”

An inquiry was sent to the Masilonyana Municipality spokesperson.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame mvh