By Kgomotso
MedupeMonday, September 11, 2017 14:00
LUCKY ESCAPE: GOGO Lettah Mahlangu and her
great-grandaughter, Sinenhlanhla, are grateful to be alive. Photo by Samson
Ratswana. GOGO LETTAH woke up with little Sinenhlanhla calling her name, telling
her the shack was on fire.
Worst of all, the old gogo could not get up from the bed!SHE
KNEW THEIR LIVES WERE IN THE HANDS OF THE THREE-YEAR-OLD GIRL.“I was terrified.
There was smoke everywhere. I couldn’t get up because I’m not well. I told
Sinenhlanhla to get help,” said gogo Lettah Mahlangu (87) from Winterveld,
Tshwane.
Her shack caught fire on Thursday afternoon. Little
Sinenhlanhla Mahlangu, only three years old, didn’t hesitate. She ran out into
the street.“I heard Sinenhlanhla scream outside and neighbours came and carried
me out of the burning shack,” said the gogo.
“We often take a rest in the afternoon, but on Thursday
things went wrong.“We don’t have electricity, so we use handmade paraffin lamps
for lighting.“I always turn it off when we go to sleep because of the danger of
fire, but this time I forgot about it.”Gogo Lettah said the people tried to put
out the fire but there was little they could do because they don’t have access
to a lot of water.
“They used sand and the little water they had but the fire
was too strong,” she said.“I watched as the flames ate all my belongings,
including my pension money that was meant to buy food to last us for the
month.”
Her daughter, Phumzile Matlou (46), got a call telling her
that her mother’s shack was on fire.“I was relieved when I arrived and found
her alive,” she said.“We’ve lost everything but I’m grateful they were
unharmed.”
Gogo said she owed her life to her great-granddaughter.“She
is so young but she managed to save my life,” she said.“If she didn’t rush to
call for help, I would have been dead by now.”
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