Unrest in Mahube Valley claims life of day-old infant

The unrest in Mahube Valley‚ east of Tshwane‚ has allegedly claimed the life of a day-old infant.

Shimmy Moffat Mphamo‚ a resident of the informal settlement which owners of nearby bond houses want removed‚ said his newborn died during the commotion on Wednesday night.

Mphamo‚ a 36-year-old taxi driver had named the child Karabo. Mphamo said the baby was in a shack that was attacked with a petrol bomb.

A number of shacks have been petrol bombed‚ allegedly by residents of the formalised section of Mahube Valley where residents took up bonds for their homes.

Shack dwellers have also vandalised and petrol bombed a number of the bond houses.

Mphamo told reporters he was still at work when his shack was attacked. He told Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga of the incident. Msimanga was addressing the shack dwellers.

“When the fire started the mother of the child ran to get neighbours to help out‚ leaving the child inside. Someone managed to get the baby. But unfortunately it was too late‚ as he was found dead‚” he said.

The shack was razed to the ground by fire. “I've lost everything‚ even my ID and the birth certificate of the baby‚” said Mphamo.

Karabo appears to have died due to smoke inhalation. A community member said they struggled to rescue the baby quickly because bullets flew as they tried to get to him.

“Those people have guns. After petrol bombing a shack they fired shots to block us from putting out the fire‚” he said.

Msimanga has urged community members to stop fighting. He said the present warring in the area will cause nothing but unnecessary deaths.

“We want to find a solution that will benefit both sides‚” Msimanga told the shack dwellers.

Owners of the bond houses are demanding removal of the shacks‚ which started sprawling a year ago. They accuse the shack dwellers of stealing their electricity‚ thus causing power outages.

The situation remained tense in the area‚ with fears that both sides might attack one another again. Msimanga promised residents that police won't leave until normality is returned.

- SowetanLIVE