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Mrs Yimisa Maria Ngoveni stands in front of the threatening message.

Granny and grandsons escape fire of death

 

A 65-year-old woman is reeling from shock after she escaped death by fire when an unknown person had torched her 13-room house in the early hours of last Thursday. This is the third alleged attack on her life.

The incident took place at Njhakanjhaka in Bungeni at around 03:00. Mrs Yimisa Maria Ngoveni and her two grandsons, 14 and 8, were fast asleep when she was awakened by the sound of a raging fire and pungent smoke in the house. She grabbed her two grandsons by the wrists from their beds and rushed towards the kitchen door.

“I tried to unlock the door, but a lot of matchsticks were stuffed in the keyhole,” she said. “I was so frustrated and afraid at the same time.”

Grandmother and grandsons finally rushed to the burglar-proofed windows and cried out for help. Community members heard them and came to their rescue. “They opened up a way for us by using a thick iron bar to press up the garage door,” Ngoveni said. “We would have died in the fire which destroyed our home.”

When she returned home with other community members and the police, she realised that some awful words had been left on the wall, written in red: “Am back”, “Death”, and four circles with crosses inside, and the number 4.

“I am devastated,” she said. “I don't know why I am being persecuted in this manner. All my children are grown-ups and well settled in life. They do not walk around robbing people or making enemies. They can do whatever they are doing, but God is watching over everything – and any person who kills another person lives to face God's anger, even during his or her life here on earth.”

The first incident of arson happened on 16 December last year, when the fire gutted a quarter of the house. The old lady had noticed the fire before it could cause massive damage and then extinguished it. The suspect or suspects returned again in February, and left vicious threats written on the gateway, gate and garage door. The messages read: “Death is coming”, “Death War” and “At War”.

In February, there were also four circles with crosses inside. The family believes this kind of drawing suggests graves for four persons. “Maybe these are the deaths,” Ngoveni said.

The loss or damage has been provisionally estimated at R800 000. Ngoveni and her grandchildren have been rendered homeless.

The spokesperson for the Waterval police, Constable Cynthia Ndou, confirmed the incident and said that the police were investigating a case of arson. “We are appealing to members of the community to work with us in this case,” Ndou said. “We want to believe that, if the community and the police stick together, we can uncover all the dark secrets around this case and bring the perpetrators to book.”

W/O Risimati Masonto, W/O Todani Ramaite and Const Cynthia Ndou of the Waterval SAPS, photographed at the scene of the incident.

Mrs Yimisa Maria Ngoveni is seen here in what was a beautiful kitchen.

In this picture, the writing on the wall reads: "Am back".
 

Mrs Yimisa Maria Ngoveni and her two grandsons escaped through the pressed up garage door.

 

Date:02 April 2015

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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