Central SA
Bloemfontein father mourns death of two children in shack fire─── ZENANDE MPAME 13:57 Wed, 03 Dec 2025
Free State police are investigating the deaths of two children in a shack fire in Naledi Square in Bloemfontein.
Sonskyn police responded on Wednesday (3/12) to reports of a shack engulfed in flames. The children's father told police he was woken up by his children shouting that the shack was on fire. He noticed the fire was coming from the direction of the kitchen, near the exit door.
He managed to grab the child closest to him, his son, 10, and rushed out of the shack to safety. When he attempted to return for the other two children, the fire had intensified, making it impossible to re-enter.
The two minor children, a girl (14) and her brother (4), died in the fire.
“The Sonskyn police have opened an inquest docket to investigate the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident fully,” said Free State police spokesperson Mahlomola Kareli. “The names of the deceased minors are being withheld out of respect for the family.”
In May, a Reitz couple, Palesa Mngomezulu, 23, and Ben Nhlapho, 25, were released on warning after their two children died after they were burnt beyond recognition when they were left alone inside a shack.
It is alleged that Mngomezulu and Nhlapho left their seven-month-old and 18-month-old alone inside a shack while they went out drinking, and the shack burnt down with the children inside.
In March, Bloemspruit police investigated an inquest after a 43-year-old and her two children, 3 and 8, lost their lives in a shack fire, which is believed to have been caused by a candle left burning during a power outage.
Investigations indicated that the fire might have started in a separate room where the older son usually sleeps, but he was not home at the time. When he returned, he found the shack in flames and alerted neighbours, who tried to extinguish the fire using buckets of water, but the flames were too intense.
The City of Ekurhuleni has tips on how to stop a shack fire:
- Keep a bucket of water on hand so you can extinguish flames easily.
- Make sure candles are secure and cannot fall over. Do not go to sleep with candles still burning.
- Keep a close eye on paraffin stoves; do not cook near a window that has a curtain.
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