Good Samaritans come to the rescue after fire destroys family home
Sithole's daughter died after a long illness worsened by exposure to the cold in the single room the family has been living in since a fire destroyed their house almost two years ago.
She was buried on June 13.
The National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) in Nelson Mandela Bay has stepped in to rebuild her home.
Sithole said her daughter had hidden her illness from the family.
However, during the Easter weekend she had become bedridden.
'I do not have enough or the right words to say thank you to Nafcoc.
'My family helped me to bury her.
'My daughter had a creche, she helped with soccer, traditional dancing and the choir in the community,' Sithole said.
With five people sharing the only remaining room, the house was in no condition to be lived in and posed a serious safety hazard.
The fire occurred on September 21 2023.
Sithole said this was the second fire which had started in an unexplained manner.
'My home burned down about two years ago.
'We do not know how the fire started.'
Seeing smoke, she made her way towards the house, to find it was was on fire.
'When I arrived, I did not have the strength to watch. I blacked out. I collapsed only to be woken up later.
'Though everything was burned, the one miracle is that my room did not burn.
'That is the room we lived in for two years. My clothes were not burned, nor was the ceiling.
'I was sick first due to the cold, I had to stop going to church, my back was affected and my feet were always cold.
'I had given up hope that the government would help me.
Nafcoc Nelson Mandela Bay region deputy chair Sithembele Vatala, acting general secretary Mlungisi John and executive member Mzukisi Tyuwa said one of their members had agreed to rebuild the house.
'The condition Sithole lives under is painful. Even her daughter died due to the cold after suffering from pneumonia,' Vatala said.
'That home is not ideal for anyone to live in.
'BLB JV Group on Cape Road agreed to build the house from scratch, and we are happy that granny said she will never forget what we have done for her.'
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That was perceived to be a remarkable blow at the heart of the South African regime. But I think the answer has to be yes — there are circumstances in which it is justifiable, and, yes, there are circumstances in which it is effective — but it is never effective on its own. 'The importance for me is that the South African example proved something remarkable: the apartheid regime looked like a regime that would last forever, and it was blown down. 'It is hard to argue that, on its own, a political struggle would have delivered. The striking at the heart of a regime's claim on a monopoly of power, which the ANC's armed wing represented, was very significant.' In retaliation, in the early hours of 30 January 1981, apartheid security forces raided three ANC houses in Matola, Mozambique, killing 15 ANC members, Obadi among them. Rashid escaped as he was in Swaziland dealing with tasks Slovo had given him. The 1980 Sasol operation is often regarded as the best of the MK operations in its almost 30-year history. It was spectacular. Pure drama. It made international headlines. The operation inspired people's confidence in MK and the ANC. And it boosted morale in the ANC. The success of the operation led to the NEC (national executive committee) deciding that Special Ops should continue under Tambo's guidance as a separate structure within MK with its own reporting processes. Attacking the Heart of Apartheid is published by Penguin Random House.
