A Zimbabwean family of four which was based in South Africa perished after suspected thieves burned down the family’s house. The four family members died in the fire while three other people are reported to be battling for their lives.
According to local publication, the four deceased family members are Maxwell Mazugunye, Margaret Vele, Miriam Mazugunye and another who is yet to be identified.
While South Africa has been plagued by Xenophobic attacks in the last few days, this horrific crime may have been committed by Zimbabweans who wanted to rob Maxwell’s workplace. Maxwell who is reported to have been the custodian of the keys to his company’s safe had refused to help the suspected arsonists to rob his workplace.
In an interview with H-Metro, Maxwell’s brother Simba Mazugunye said
Early this year, my brother sent me WhatsApp voice recordings of someone threatening him. Whoever these people were, they were Zimbabweans because they could speak Shona.
At the moment, we are not sure what really caused the fire, but my brother, his wife and two of their children died.
One thing I am sure of is that this was not an accident. This was a planned attack and the people who did it wanted my brother or someone very close him to die…they knew that he was the one who had access to where the company money was kept so they wanted the money.
Maxwell and his family will be buried in Sanyati, their home area.
hmetro
