Usindiso fire inquiry: Mother recalls agony of having to leave child behind
A mother of three told the Commission of Inquiry looking into Marshalltown fire that her neighbour left his one-year-old son in her room and fled the burning Usindiso building.
A burnt out corridor in the illegally occupied Marshalltown building in the Johannesburg CBD after a fire. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - A mother of three who lived in the scorched Usindiso building recalled how she had to leave a neglected child in the burning property in a desperate attempt to escape the fire.
Forty-year-old Nokwazi Cele told the Commission of Inquiry into the Marshalltown fire that her neighbour left his one-year-old son in her room and fled the burning building.
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She was called to the witness stand on Monday to give an account of what she believes could have started the blaze that killed more than 70 people in August.
It was a normal night for Cele and her three kids as she went to bed and left her eldest daughter studying for her matric exams.
However, she said her daughter woke her up in the early hours of the morning, alerting her about a fire that had engulfed parts of the building.
She described how her family escaped through a window on the second floor but began weeping when she recalled leaving the one-year-old in the burning building.
"That was my confusion... for a late jump between my kids, who were screaming outside, and leaving this one-year-old in the room. My windows started breaking as if the building was shaking, so I left that one-year-old child there."
She said she watched the building rapidly turning into a hive for crime.