Nomawethu Dingana wishes her last day with her partner had been different. The 32-year-old resident of Zolani, in Grahamstown, is still reeling after a weekend of socialising ended in tragedy on Sunday 8 June.
Nomawethu Dingana wishes her last day with her partner had been different. The 32-year-old resident of Zolani, in Grahamstown, is still reeling after a weekend of socialising ended in tragedy on Sunday 8 June.
Until last weekend, Dingana shared a home in the informal settlement with Vuyani Yako, 25.
Annoyed because he'd spent Sunday afternoon drinking with his friend, they'd exchanged harsh words before she left to visit a relative who lives in the neighbourhood.
She spent some time at the home of the neighbour, Nombuyiselo Magwala, before a friend invited her to another nearby home.
Dingana had been there for a while when she heard Magwala screaming.
"I ran to the house and I saw it was on fire. I kicked the door open wanting to go in and there were flames coming out of the door, but a man who was there pulled me away from the house," said an emotional Dingana.
She said there were people all around the house and police had cordoned the area off. "Some people told me he was inside, while others told me he was not. I was very confused," she said.
Dingana's worst fears were confirmed when a police officer told her not to look because they were about to take Yako out of the house.
"The police officer who was taking my statement said I must not go inside because he did not want me to see his burnt body," she said.
Frantic Zolani residents tried in vain to save Yako from the burning shack.
Also in shock was Yako's neighbour, Sicelo Zuzile, the friend who had been drinking with him minutes before he died. He described his horror at coming to after passing out, to be told Yako was dead.
Zuzile and Yako had been drinking together with Dingana earlier that day, he said. Then Dingana left them in the house. Not long after, Yako asked Zuzile to leave.
"He said he was going to cook supper and told me to leave, because he could see that I was very drunk."
Zuzile left Yako's shack but passed out outside just a few metres from it.
"When I woke up I saw lights all around me and people standing around the burning house," he said.
Zuzile said he could barely recall his actions.
"I was told by people who were there that I'd woken up and tried to kick the door open, before I passed out near the burning house again," he said. Zuzile couldn't remember who had picked him and taken him away from the burning shack. He said he'd found out later that night that a person had died in the fire.
He said at first he'd thought both Yako and Dingana had been burned. "I was crying, thinking both of them had died," he said.
Yako is described by his neighbours as a quiet person who was always at home. He had shared his home with Dingana since 2012.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender was not available for comment at the time of publishing. Dingana was given a case number at the Joza police station, indicating that the police have opened an inquest docket.
