SAPS
The Police in Ritavi outside Tzaneen are investigating two counts of murder and an inquest after a 51-year-old man and his two daughters aged nine and 13 burned to death in their house on Monday morning.
A police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe says it is alleged that the father, who is estranged from his wife, set the house on fire using a flammable substance.
The deceased were identified as Gledwin Mboweni and his children Tonia and Tilda.
Mboweni was employed as the Acting District Manager for Stats SA in the Mopani District.
Colonel Ngoepe says neighbours saw the house engulfed in flames and jumped over the wall in an attempt to rescue the family.
He says they broke one of the windows to get inside but the smoke was too overwhelming.
Preliminary police investigations revealed that the relationship between the deceased and his wife became strained and that they were separated for the past four years. The daughters were staying with the father in Nkowankowa while the mother was staying in Vhembe.
