The inside walls showing the extent of the damaged caused by the fire

Residents held a placard demonstration during the court appearance of a suspect, charged in connection with a fire that destroyed a Ridgecroft family.

Irate residents gathered outside the Phoenix Magistrates Court on Friday, 13 January, when a suspect appeared on a charge of arson. The suspect, Rajendra Reddy, is alleged to have started a fire that razed a Ridgecroft family's home on 7 January. Fortunately, the family was not in the house at the time of the fire. During the court case, he was refused bail and was remanded into custody until his next court appearance.

According to Ronika Reddy, she received a call from her cousin telling her to come home quickly because the house was on fire.

"We had gone to the beach that morning. When I received the call, we rushed home and were speechless as to the cause of the fire," she expressed.

Reddy said that before they left, they made sure that all the electrical appliances were switched off.

The distraught resident claimed that she had been receiving threats from her Rajendra, her ex-husband, weeks prior to the fire but she paid no attention to them.

"He said he would burn me and my family alive but I did not take them seriously as he has made similar threats in the past but never acted on them," she alleged..

She further clamed that the house was recently renovated and refurnished.

"My father used his retirement funds to renovate the house and buy new furniture and now all his hard work has been reduced to ashes," Reddy claimed.

She said that the upper part of the house was badly burnt and all the furniture destroyed.

"The lower rooms were also affected but some of the stuff was not badly burnt. We estimate the damages to cost between R80 000 and R90 000. We are left with nothing now as we used up our monies to renovate the house," she said.

Reddy further added that her children, who were due to start school, have no books or uniforms as they were damaged in the fire.

The family is currently seeking shelter with family and friends. They have also appealed to the community of Phoenix for assistance with donation whether in kind or cash. Members of the community who would like to assist the family, can contact Reddy on 084 316 5058 or 084 255 8523.