‘The flames were everywhere’: DA candidate and 3 daughters escape petrol-bomb attack - News24

A DA ward councillor candidate narrowly escaped death with her three daughters when her Kariega home was torched late on Monday night, days before she was due to contest what could be a historic ward for the party.

Kayzel Forbes, who is challenging the ANC in Ward 50, a known ANC stronghold, arrived home after 21:00 following a day of door-to-door campaigning and an activist debriefing session in the ward.

Within hours, her home was a raging inferno.

Forbes had barely settled in when she joined a virtual meeting scheduled for 22:00.

It was during that meeting that her world was torn apart.

“My 17-year-old daughter screamed, ‘Mommy, mommy, they are throwing bombs through the window,’” Forbes recalled, her voice still hoarse from smoke inhalation.

“Within less than two minutes, the house was engulfed in flames. The flames were everywhere,” she said.

From the bedroom, it spread to the passage, bathroom, showers, dining room and the lobby.

“We could not see anything. It was black in front of us, but we managed to flee out of the back door to safety.”

Her three daughters, aged 11, 17, and 22, had all been asleep in their respective bedrooms at the time of the attack.

After arriving home, she had left paperwork in her car and stepped outside for a cigarette – she does not smoke indoors – before sitting down for her 22:00 meeting.

The fire was started in what the attackers likely assumed was her occupied bedroom.

“I am lucky to be alive,” Forbes said quietly. “Things could have been very different.”

The South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed the incident in a statement issued by Eastern Cape spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana.

According to Gantana, police were summoned to the Kariega residence at approximately 22:35 on Monday, following reports that a window had been broken and petrol poured into a room before it was set alight.

“She discovered that her room was on fire and attempted to extinguish the flames, but the fire spread.”

The teenager sustained burn marks in the process and was transported to hospital by ambulance for medical attention.

Firefighters attended the scene alongside an array of SAPS role players, including the Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC), Crime Intelligence, the Explosive Unit, Metro Police, and the Nelson Mandela Bay District Task Team, the unit to which the docket has since been allocated for further investigation.

No arrests have been made at this stage.

Gantana appealed to anyone with information to contact the investigating officer or Crime Stop on 08600 10111, or to submit a tip via the MySAPS App, adding that all information would be treated with strict confidentiality.

Forbes spent the day before the attack conducting home visits across Ward 50.

She is of the view that politics played a role in the attack but does not want to point fingers, citing concerns about jeopardising the police investigation.

Ward 50 in Kariega has long been considered impenetrable ANC territory.

The family has since been moved to a safe, undisclosed location and has not returned to the heavily damaged home.

Forbes estimates the structural damage will be extremely costly to repair.

She intends to send her daughters to a psychologist, believing all three were severely traumatised by the ordeal.

And beyond the human toll, Forbes is also grieving her cat, Pablo, who remains in a critical condition after being badly burned when he became trapped in the ceiling as the flames consumed the house.

Her other cat, Luna, fled to the neighbours.

“I will continue with my political work. I will not be intimidated by people or threatened by my participation in politics or my community work,” she said.

“I have full faith that we will take that ward from the ANC.”

Asked about the attack, the ANC’s regional chairperson for Nelson Mandela Bay, Babalwa Lobishe, expressed shock and sadness and said she would reach out to the councillor involved.

When asked for comment, Lobishe said she had not been aware that the incident had occurred.

“It is quite sad that this responsibility of ours, being public representatives, exposes us to the point where people think they can just do what they want to us.

“They are not taking into consideration that we have families and that we have set aside everything to give to council in a patriotic way.”

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