Four more residents of Pieter Wessels Old Age home in Nigel have since passed on, increasing the number of the deceased to 22.
Three of the deceased died last night, two at Pholosong Hospital and one at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. This morning the fourth resident died at Pholosong Hospital.
This happened after a fire broke out at the home on Sunday night injuring about 40 other senior citizens.
Services by the department including counseling offered to the survivors, their families and the families of the deceased, identification of the deceased and facilitating of donations are ongoing. The department has also invited the Department of Home Affairs and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to assist the residents with identification documents that were destroyed during the fire.
MEC Mahlangu and her team have since placed the survivors of the fire at Zanele Mbeki Home as well as Nigel old age home. The team from the department is also working with owners of the home.
Donations of food and clothes are urgently needed and they can be dropped off at Zanele Mbeki Home. Financial donations can be deposited t Account name - TC Adra, Bank: Absa, Account number: 1001390755, Branch code: 334143, reference: P Wessels FCC. You can also contact Pastor Louis Gouws on 016 342 0308 or 082 496 4944.
Enquiries:
Mandla Sidu
Cell: 082 773 9013
