Oupa, 60 arrested for arson

A KRAAIFONTEIN oupa appeared in the Blue Downs Magistrates Court on charges of arson and three counts of murder following a fire that claimed the lives of three people, including a four-year-old child, in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein.

- BY MANDILAKHE TSHWETE

The incident happened in the early hours of 13 August 2025.

At about 12.45am, police and emergency services were called to a shack in New Rest squatter camp that had been destroyed by fire. Inside, the bodies of a 58-year-old woman, a 56-year-old man, and a four-year-old child were discovered.

An inquest docket was initially opened as the cause of the fire was unclear.