Woman alleged to have started deadly JHB building fire knocked on doors, warning people to get out

David Shai still remembers the frantic scramble to get out the two-storey building on the corner of Commissioner and Nugget streets that caught fire during the early hours of Sunday morning.

The elderly man recalled residents’ valiant efforts to help those stranded on the second-floor get to the pavement from a balcony.

The flat occupants had turned to the balcony as an exit point because the staircase leading outside had been blocked by the blaze.

Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium, Shai said he remembers helping his neighbour make it safely to the ground, before taking the plunge himself. This was the same neighbour who had alerted the second-floor occupants of the raging fire, claiming it had been started by her boyfriend after a dispute.

“I just heard her coming up the stairs, banging on people’s doors and shouting, ‘wake up, wake up, there’s a fire.’ She explained that she’d fought with her boyfriend and he got angry and started the fire.

“I then went out to investigate and saw smoke and realised it was bad,” he said.

Shai said chaosensued after residents realised the building was on fire, with some jumping out of the nearest windows and those on the first-floor using the stairs to try to escape.

Shai and those left stranded rushed to the balcony for safety. It was from this vantage point that they were able to get down using a rope tethered to a nearby window.

“We first helped a child get down to those on the ground who were able to catch him. So me and the woman who [allegedly] started the fire were the last two remaining and I helped her down first. When I made it to the ground, I was told she was the one who started the fire,” he recalled.

Bonisiwe Gumede, 30, appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on Tuesday after her arrest on Sunday. 

Reports emerged that she allegedly started the fire after a dispute with her boyfriend.

The blaze claimed the lives of Sizwe Cele, 35, and his girlfriend.

She faces two charges of murder and one of arson.

Cele’s neighbour, who did not want to be named, explained that Gumede was hanging out with the couple until about 4.30am and then decided to go knock on her boyfriend’s door.

When the man, a foreign national, refused to open for her and instead told her to go to sleep, an argument ensued between them.

“After about 10 minutes, she left and returned shortly afterwards with some sort of accelerant, which she poured outside his door and lit on fire.

We first helped a child get down to those on the ground who were able to catch him. So me and the woman who [allegedly] started the fire were the last two remaining and I helped her down first ... when I made it to the ground, I was told she was the one who started the fire.

—  David Shai

“The fire was initially small, but she soon called me to help put it out when it got out of control. I tried to help, but the fact that people use gas and paraffin stoves made things worse,” he recalled.

While residents rushed to get out of the building, the panicked father searched for his nine-year-old daughter, who had rushed to alert other residents of the blaze before safely getting out.

The man sustained burns to his head and on his arm as a result.

He told TimesLIVE Premium that he had lost almost everything in the fire. He only managed to grab his wallet nearby.

Describing Gumede’s state on that fateful morning, the man said she had consumed alcohol but wasn’t too drunk.

He said the young woman had a good relationship with her partner and that fights were not common between them. 

A close friend of Gumede, who did not want to be named, agreed that the couple loved each other and were together for about six to seven years. She, however, said they used to fight a lot.

She had spent the entire previous afternoon with her before Gumede left her to go drinking with Sizwe and his partner.

“She was the one who woke me up to tell me there’s a fire. She later told me her boyfriend was the one who started the fire,” she said.

She described Gumede as a good person but with a short temper.

The duo had been friends since Gumede moved into the building in 2012 and “shared everything”.

“What happened was shocking, I don’t even have the strength to talk about it,” she said.

Gumede’s close friend also lost everything in the fire, including her son’s brand new school uniform.

Not many details emerged on Sizwe and his girlfriend, whom residents knew as Sthe, but his uncle Sibongiseni Cele confirmed that he had been staying in the building since 2020 at his father’s behest.

Sibongiseni, who also stayed in the building, said he only found out that his nephew had died when he returned from hospital on Monday.

He too was asleep at the time of the incident but, luckily, was woken by a commotion outside his room. When he went outside to investigate, he came across the fire.

“We both nearly died. God helped me and I was able to get out. My neighbour guided me as I could no longer see the way out clearly due to the smoke,” he said.

Sibongiseni not only lost his nephew but most of his belongings. He was only able to grab a bag from his room.

He said the family was yet to prepare for Sizwe’s funeral as they are still awaiting the results of a DNA test to identify him. Sizwe was burnt beyond recognition. He was only able to identify him by the chain necklace he used wear.

Residents provided a glimpse into life in the building, explaining that everyone got along and that whatever disputes that emerged mostly related to tribalism.

The building was home to people of different nationalities; South Africans, Tanzanians, Basotho, Burundians and Zimbabweans.

Many revealed that they had been staying in the building for more than a decade with little trouble between the nationalities. They revealed they only had access to water and used paraffin or small gas stoves to cook. They paid rent until just before Covid-19 when they were told to stop.

Gumede’s friend, who was also part of the committee that managed the affairs of the building, confirmed there had been a court battle over their occupancy.

Nigerian couple Tony and Helen Meme-Akpta brought an application for eviction in the Johannesburg high court in July 2022, claiming they were the registered owners of the building.

The about 200 illegal occupants won the right to remain in the building after the application was dismissed.

Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda confirmed that it is a hijacked building.

Gumede’s case was postponed to January 30 2024.