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- A Cape Town family laid two children to rest on Wednesday.
- Xache and Juane Weideman died in a fire in Bishop Lavis.
- The mother wants answers as to how the fire started.
Instead of celebrating his birthday, Xache Weideman's family buried the seven-year-old and his brother during an emotional funeral service on Wednesday.
Xache and his four-year-old brother, Juane, died in a fire at their Bishop Lavis home in Cape Town.
The children's mother, Chenay Engelbrecht, told News24 she was convinced there was foul play involved in the death of her children.
Recalling how she dashed into the flaming building, in an attempt to save her two boys, Engelbrecht explained she was only a short distance away from her house, where the children were sleeping. She was having a cup of tea, which she had made at her home.
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When the alarm was raised about the fire, she ran to her home, which was in flames, and her two children were trapped inside.
She said:
"They said they had heard them crying: 'Mummy, mummy, help us'. But I couldn't help them. I covered my mouth and went into the house, but it was so hot and there was so much smoke. I couldn't even see where they were," she said.
Engelbrecht insisted that foul play was involved, saying she switched off all appliances after making the tea. She said, shortly before the fire, someone had come to the house, looking for her partner.
When she said he wasn't there, the man told her he would come back for a 'visit'.
She feared that the man, who she believed was a gangster, may have been behind the fire.
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"When I left the house with the cup of tea, I felt like someone was watching me. I kept looking over my shoulder so much, that I was spilling tea," she said.
Engelbrecht also recalled smelling petrol in her home when she tried to save her children.
She said:
Her neighbour, Bobelle McKenzie, previously told News24 that she had heard an argument minutes before the fire erupted. She sounded the alarm after smelling smoke.
The City of Cape Town's Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, told News24 at the time that firefighters were informed of the two boys inside the house when they arrived at the scene.
Crews managed to contain and extinguish the fire just before 00:40 in the morning. Two other homes were also damaged by the fire.
When the police arrived at the scene in Arthur Abrahams Avenue in Bishop Lavis, once the fire had been extinguished, they found the bodies of two minors who had died in the fire.
Police spokesperson Captain Frederick Van Wyk said: "We are still awaiting the forensic report. Investigations continue."
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