A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl is battling for her life in hospital after being rescued from a blazing home in eSikhaleni, set on fire after a petrol bomb attack in the early hours of Monday morning.
Aphelele Gwala (6) was rescued from one of two houses on fire at the eMadukwini area outside eSikhaleni.
According to her mother, Nompumelelo Nyandeni (38), their house was ‘set alight’ at 3am in what she described as a ‘political attack’.
She said the fire started at a bedroom window close to where her four children were sleeping.
Nyandeni told the Zululand Observer how she had to fight the flames to save her children.
‘I heard my daughter scream from the other room, and I could immediately smell the flames and petrol.’
‘At that time the fire had already spread throughout the room. I rushed through the flames and rescued them,’ said Nyandeni.
Aphelele sustained severe burns and was rushed to Ngwelezana Hospital. The other children escaped unharmed.
‘Doctors say she will never be able to use her right leg again,’ she said.
Nyandeni said the attack was an ‘intimidation tactic’ from people opposing her affiliation with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
‘It was political intimidation because I have been active in the party’s door-to-door campaign,’ she said.
Nyandeni is the wife of the late IFP Councillor Samson Gwala, who was gunned down in eSikhaleni almost two years ago.
‘I am now scared to stay in this house, and have moved in with relatives.’
In a surprising twist, another fire incident was reported to the police by another IFP member in the area.
Buhle Dindi said she was shocked when she found her front door in flames at 3am.
‘I heard noise at the front door and could smell petrol. The door was on fire, and I could see dogs chasing something outside the gate. We were lucky no one was injured,’ said Dindi.
Shocked by both incidents, IFP members, including regional Chairperson and Nkandla Mayor Thamsanqa Ntuli, visited both families on Tuesday as well as the injured Aphelele in hospital.
‘We are against any violence in the area and encourage the public not to interfere with the police investigation,’ said Ntuli.
‘We promise to come back with the leadership of the party to set up a meeting with the police and offer help to those homeless people. We also thank the hospital staff for taking care of this young victim and we continue to pray for her recovery,’ said Ntuli.
eSikhawini SAPS spokesperson, Lt Thembinkosi Mkhumane, confirmed both incidents and said no arrests had been made.
