Photo: Supplied Photo: Supplied
Cape Town – A Ravensmead family has been left traumatised after their home was petrol-bombed twice in one weekend in an apparent case of mistaken identity.
Maureen Momberg, 78, says the top floor of her Stroebel Street home is gutted after an unknown person hurled a lit beer bottle filled with petrol through the window of her 15-year-old great-grandson’s room on Sunday night.
Her granddaughter, Nicole Barry, 32, says on Saturday morning the family were woken up by a neighbour who told them the pool house was alight and rushed to douse the flames.
“We didn’t know what was going on, but it made me very uneasy and I couldn’t sleep,” says Nicole.
“Then on Sunday at 11pm, I heard my son shout and saw flames everywhere. It was horrible, we saw a beer bottle that was the petrol bomb and my daddy, Keith, 60, ran to pick it up but he slipped and hit his head and was unconscious.
“I had to drag him down the stairs to get him out.”
Keith was taken to Elsies River Day Hospital, where he was given stitches, and is now recovering.
City Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Edward Bosch says they received the call for help at 11.37pm and the fire was extinguished shortly after midnight.
Maureen says shortly after the fire on Saturday morning, a woman in her 40s came knocking on the door asking to speak to a woman named Grizelda.
“I spoke to her through the window and she asked me about Grizelda and her husband and I explained nobody by that name lives here,” explains Maureen.
“She was very aggressive and I did not open the door for her. The only thing I can think of is that someone targeted the wrong house.”
The granny says her family lost valuables in the blaze and are now waiting for insurers to indicate how long the repairs will take.
“They lost all their stuff just before Christmas and we don’t have water or electricity now,” she says.
“I just want the people who did this to know they did this to innocent people. I have lived here for more than 40 years and I work in my community.
The family has now reported the arson attacks to Ravensmead police.