THE Mpongwana family at Island squatter camp in Makhaza, Khayelitsha is hurt after losing their child in a shack fire.
Little Athandiwe Mpongwana (3) was at home with his dad Siyabulela Mpongwana (42) on that fateful night on Sunday, 17 September.
His dad left him sleeping as he went to collect a lamp and his phone that he had charged at a friend's house, about a kilometre away.
When he returned, he saw his shack destroyed by fire and couldn't see his son.
"I was shocked. I lost my mind for a moment because I couldn't see my son anywhere. I didn't want to even think that he could have burnt to death inside the shack," said Siyabulela.
He said he left his house at about 11pm on Saturday to fetch the phone because his friend was going to leave early for work in the morning. He said he came back just after midnight on Sunday and found his shack turned into a heap of ashes.
What hurt Siyabulela more is that his wife and her 13-year-old daughter slept at a relative's house that night, and he had requested to spend time with his son.
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"He had been in Eastern Cape with his grandparents and only returned last month. When the mother and his sister went to Site C, I begged her to leave him behind so that we could bond with him. Little did I know that I was asking her to leave him for his death," the father said.
Mother Nosibulelo Mpongwana(39) said her son was a happy child and it hurts her that he died such a painful death.
"I'm heartbroken. I have no words. My boy was a bubbly child who loved laughing. I will never recover from this," she said.
Community leader Fundile Mapolisa said they tried to extinguish the fire, but it was too strong for them.
"We tried but the flames were too strong. After we extinguished the fire we saw the body of the baby on top of the springs of a mattress," said Mapolisa.
Police spokesman in the Western Cape Captain Frederick Van Wyk confirmed the incident.
"Kindly be advised that Harare police registered an inquest case docket for investigation. The post mortem was done on Monday 18 September and the DNA comparison was done on Tuesday and is awaiting the results. Investigations continue with no arrest," he said.
