Scorned lover burns himself and four kids after being rejected. He went hunting for his lover when he couldn’t find her at home. According to reports, Monaheng Moloi of Katlehong in Ekurhuleni discovered his lover with another man and when he requested her to go home with him, she allegedly refused.
The enraged Moloi took the unimaginable action. He allegedly returned to his girlfriend’s house later and lit a shack on fire after discovering four children inside. The children, including Moloi, Olona Njozela (10), Lilitha Njozela (7), Ayabonga (5), Thabang Njozela, and Nqobile Njozela (4 years old), were all burned to death.
Mfundo Lunika, a representative for the family, said that the incident occurred shortly after the man’s return from work.
“I had just come back from the taxi rank since I’m a driver and I was sitting in my shack. I asked my partner to prepare food for me so I could eat and sleep. As she was preparing the bed some boys passing by yelled that a shack was burning in our yard. When I went out to check, it dawned on me that four children were inside there,” he said.
He added that he pushed open the door and was met by a blaze. “The flame was too harsh and it was hard to gain entry. We tried to remove one side of the shack so we could gain access to the children but we still couldn’t go in. The father of one of the children went in trying to save the kids but he ended up being burnt. He is currently in ICU,” he said.
Out of all the kids who have died, Lunika claimed that the man who perished in the fire did not have a child.
“Those four kids belong to my three sisters. Two of them were visiting for the long weekend and shared the same mother. This is just a mess. I’m traumatised and have flashbacks of my nephew and nieces lying lifeless yet I couldn’t even tell who’s who because they were burnt beyond recognition,” Lunika said adding that, “at this point, playing the blame game won’t help anyone. I don’t even know if my sister and Monaheng were still dating. As far as I know, my sister did not sleep at home on Saturday night, when her boyfriend went to look for her he found her with another man. He told her to come home with him but she refused. So I suspect that what he did was out of retaliation or anger from being rejected.”
Thabitha Moloi, Monaheng’s mother, claimed that she last saw her son when she sent him to get snuff for her but that he never returned.
“We were sitting together in the house when he told me that he was heading out but coming back soon. I asked him to go to the spaza and buy me snuff and he went. He didn’t come back and I wondered why he wasn’t coming back. Around 10 pm, I heard people yelling my name, saying I’m wanted a few streets away. When I got there I saw there was a shack burning. I’ve never been to that house before but I know who my son was dating because he often came with her. I’m shattered and still trying to process this.”
The incident was confirmed by Maswati Mdluli, a spokeswoman for Ekurhuleni EMS. Just before 11 p.m. on Sunday, she claimed the squad went to a report of a burning shack.
“When we arrived the community had tried to put out the fire but it was burning rapidly, members managed to dampen the fire then a search was launched as we heard that there were possibly bodies in there. We found five bodies and four of them were kids, the eldest was 10. There was also an adult body, a 31-year-old but we are not sure whether it was a man or a woman. All the bodies were charred beyond recognition, they were scattered in two bedrooms. We are going to launch an investigation of our own as to what could have started the fire, ” Mdluli added.
