Pastor's house burns down

Community members from Tshiozwi village in the Sinthumule area are still in shock, following an incident where the 13-room house of the Evangelical church’s pastor, Nditsheni Raluare, burnt down on Saturday morning.

According to Raluare, he could not believe his eyes when he saw his house burning. “I felt like I was dreaming when I watched helplessly,” he said. “I am now appealing to any good Samaritan out there to come and assist me. What I want is to have a roof over my head. What have I done to deserve this?” he asked.

The incident happened at around 03:00 on Saturday morning. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Raluare said he only became aware of the situation when he heard noises and the breaking of glass. “I heard noises coming from another room. I rushed there and found that there was a lot of smoke and the house was on fire,” he said. “We tried to extinguish the fire while at the same time trying to call the police and firefighters, but the fire was very fierce,” he said. People from the village gathered at the homestead but could do nothing. When the firefighters arrived at the scene, they doused the flames.

Pastor Ralaure estimates the damage at approximately R900 000. He added that the fridge, kitchen unit, beds, TV, money, clothes, ID, food and furniture had been destroyed by the fire.

A plea was made to community members and the business sector to assist the family with food, clothes, furniture and building materials. The pastor wants to repair the house, but it seems as if this will be difficult.

The chairperson of the local SANCO branch, Mr Shaft Matumba, urged the family to accept what had happened. “It is a time to be united and continue with our lives. Let us put everything in God’s hands, because He is the only One who knows what had happened,” Matumba said. “It will be very hard for them, as they had accumulated their things over many years and it will be difficult for them to buy the goods again. They will need community support.” Anyone who wants to help the pastor can phone Raluare at 0728250814 or 0765175274.

The spokesperson for the Tshilwavhusiku SAPS, W/O David Nkanyane, said that the police had opened an arson case.

Date:25 August 2017

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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