By: Pamela Sibiya

It was a joyous day for the Inanda family who received food parcels and building material on Saturday from the local African National Congress (ANC) ward Committee after their house burnt down two weeks ago.

Ward 42 committee member Max Zondi, said that they have been wanting to assist this family ever since they heard of the incident.

“We were very touched by what happened to this family hence we couldn’t rest until we knew that they were properly catered for,” he said.

He added that they heard that no-one was employed in the family and it was going to take them a very long time to build a new home if they did not receive extra assistance.

“We are determined to seek other ways of assisting the family with anything else besides what has already been done,” he added.

According to the owner of the house, Nyaniso Cingo, the house caught fire after a candle was left unattended to during load shedding and it fell unto a curtain instantly setting it alight.

She explained that they tried putting the fire out but the attempt proved futile as they watched

their only home burning to the ground.

“I do not wish that thing to anyone. I couldn’t even bring myself to cry that’s how numb I felt,” she said.

She said that they are hopeful that life will get better since they have been receiving assistance from the local ward committee and other community members.

Ward 42 Chairperson Gcina Mathonsi said that it was the role of the ward committee to ensure the livelihood of community members.

“If we had failed to do what we are doing here today, we would have failed the whole community,” said Mathonsi.