In agony after having his skin burnt off, 15-year-old Manqobalwazi Gamede fell to the ground and apologised to his family, pleading for God’s forgiveness in his final hours.
The grade 9 Makhumbuza High School pupil and his cousin Bianca Gamede, 24, were two of the people who perished after sustaining severe burns when a fire broke out at Jwayelani Butchery in the Ithala Centre in Umlazi’s W section during the height of looting in July last year.
According to Manqobalwazi’s sister, S'thembile, 20, her brother and cousin survived for a few days before succumbing to their injuries in hospital.
I asked him what happened and the only thing he kept on saying was `I'm sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you’. He knelt down and said ‘God please forgive me'.
— Sthembile Gamede
She said the fire was believed to have started in the early hours of July 12 when a gate collapsed inside the butchery, trapping people who had been looting inside.
“He managed to get back home — his whole body was white, he had no skin or hair on his head. He was able to walk and talk. I was so traumatised when I saw him. I asked him what happened and the only thing he kept on saying was, `I'm sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you'. He knelt down and said ‘God please forgive me’.”
His final apology was in response to a warning by his family not to go looting for fear that something tragic could happen.
S'thembile, who was heavily pregnant at the time, said she managed to get help from someone with a car to transport her brother, accompanied by their mother, to Prince Mshiyeni Hospital.
“At the time we didn’t know where my cousin was but we later heard that he managed to escape and was sitting outside on the road but wasn’t able to walk. He was also transported to hospital.”
She said hospital staff admitted her brother and cousin to intensive care.
“They sent my mother back home that evening and said she must come back another day. On Tuesday I called the hospital and asked how my brother and cousin were and they said they were doing OK and had been taken to ward B.”
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The family continued to follow up with the hospital every day, as visitors were not allowed due to pandemic regulations.
“On Friday (July 16) I called and asked about my brother and cousin and they told me they have no records of them. My mother went to the hospital and they informed her that everyone who was admitted to hospital with burn wounds from Jwayelani had all died.”
Their bodies were taken to Park Rynie forensic mortuary, about an hour's drive away.
“It was difficult for us to get to the mortuary. It took us about two full weeks to get their bodies brought home. The mortuary was so full and it was difficult to get through to people we could speak to.”
A tearful S'thembile said she was very close to her brother and she had warned him not to participate in any looting.
“The only person he would listen to was me because we were so close. I told him there was no need for him to go up there and that we should just sit at home and laugh at all the people who were running around looting.”
According to information obtained by the Sunday Times, 12 inquest dockets were opened for those who perished in the fire. S'thembile disputed this figure, saying many more had died.
“There were more than 12 people who died in that place. At the time there was a video going around of people running out of there. So many people were burnt, there couldn’t have been only 12 who died — they are lying.”
The Sunday Times visited the gutted butchery on the ground floor of the two-storey building. A blanket of broken glass, rusted pieces of metal and ash covered the floor as rays of sunlight shone through parts of the roof that had caved in.
A security guard on-site refused to enter the area claiming “too many people died inside that place ... much more than 12”.
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