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A 62-year-old woman from Timothy Valley in Gqeberha's Northern Areas has died after her house burnt to the ground.
Gladys Palmer, affectionately known in the community as Ouma, is believed to have hidden underneath her mattress to escape the flames in the early hours of Saturday morning.
According to a family member they woke up in the early hours with loud banging from the neighbours alerting them to the fire.
The New Executive Mayor for Nelson Mandela Bay Gary van Niekerk dropped by the scene on Sunday morning expressing his gratitude to members of the community who came to assist.
He said there were 11 people living in the house, and 10 were now homeless.
Van Niekerk said it was wonderful to see the community assisting with the clean-up in order to build a shack so that the residents would have a place to sleep.
He also arranged with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Disaster Management team to assist with temporary relief packages consisting of blankets, mattresses, food and sanitary products.
The Mayor appealed to the community to assist, especially the children, with food, uniforms for school and any other assistance,
The cause of the fire is not yet known and will form part of a police investigation.
