SWAKOPMUND – Two children died after their shack caught fire in Swakopmund’s DRC informal settlement last week. The two children, identified as Star and Grace Goses, were trapped in the blaze while sleeping with their mother, Zelda Goses (30). Only Zelda and one of her daughters survived the fire.

A police report indicates that a neighbour saved one of the children from the shack but could not reach the others as the fire had already reached the door.

Narrating her pain to Erongo governor Natalia /Goagoses and various councillors who visited the family to render support, the children’s grandmother, Ewaltine Isaak, said young people, especially those living in shacks, should remember to blow out candles and switch off their pots when they go to bed.

“Let us acknowledge that we are living in shacks. We don’t know where the fire came from, but we know that we lost two precious children. Only the Lord and Zelda know what happened, because only they were there that day,” an emotional Isaak said.

She further explained that she has been helping raise the children since they were young.

“This is my niece. She got pregnant with her first child while at school, and I raised that child. She then decided to look for a job but came back pregnant with her second child. I scolded her again, but I also took in her second child’s.

Isaak said that when Goses got pregnant with her third child, she refused to take in any of her children, and she returned all the children to Goses.

“I had to put my foot down and told her to take care of her children. But I felt sorry for her and took back the first two girls, while she raised the remaining children including Grace and Star herself, said Isaak.

She added that Grace and star used to visit her in Henties Bay during school holidays.

According to Isaak, before the tragedy, the mother asked again if she could take Grace and Star but she refused as she wanted her niece to be a responsible parent.

“Today, I wish I had said yes. They would have been alive now. It was not my intention. I just wanted her to be a more responsible parent and take care of her children. I regret not taking them. Had I done so, this tragedy might not have happened,” Isaak said while fighting back tears.

She also appealed to young people—especially young mothers living in similar conditions—to be more cautious.

“You need to love your life and that of your children. See the importance of your life, even if you are young and enjoying yourself.”

Fast-track housing solutions

Meanwhile, Erongo governor /Goagoses urged local authorities to fast-track access to affordable land and housing to prevent further tragedies.

She said mitigating measures should be implemented as proper planning cannot take place under the current living conditions.

“It is not safe for people to continue living like this. As leadership, let us see how to decongest. I can see the set-up, and we must do something about the living conditions. This is not something we can be proud of. We cannot lose lives like this. We cannot sit and wait. A mother cannot lose children like this. It is unacceptable,” /Goagoses said.

-edeklerk@nepc.com.na