Dozens of people gathered outside the HOMii Flats in the Durban CBD on Monday to call for justice for the Dlamini twins, who fell down a lift shaft at the apartment complex on October 18.
Aphelele died as a result of the fall while his twin sister Aphile was critically injured and is in a coma. Monday would have marked the twins’ eighth birthday.
The march was organised by the advocacy group March and March alongside the MK Party labour desk, drawing a substantial crowd of residents and supporters demanding accountability from the building management.
Khaya Dlamini, the twins’ father, said his daughter, who survived the fall, remains in a critical condition. “She underwent another surgery, the second surgery, which was a success. However, she’s still in a coma. She has suffered very serious injuries to her head, spine, and arm, and she is unable to breathe on her own,” he said. Dlamini said that he is hopeful that she will wake up and he asked for prayers.
The Dlamini family laid to rest their son at the weekend.
The march also drew support from Nontuthukho Mantshongo, a mother from Pietermaritzburg who lost her daughter, Andiswa Matshongo, in a similar lift accident at HOMii Flats on 16 February 2023.
Andiswa, who was a second year student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, allegedly fell from the seventh floor to the second floor in the lift.
Mantshongo added that she still did not know what happened.
“I’ve never seen the CCTV footage, and I was never asked to see it because I just don’t have the strength to do it. I was deeply hurt when I heard the news,” Mantshongo said.
Among those who joined the march was radio personality Ayanda Msweli who called for accountability and compassion from the building’s owners. “We are here to voice our concern and call for Ubuntu. Even if the owners of this building do not have Ubuntu, they must find it. It cannot be that someone may die and then there is silence,” he said.
The marchers called for stricter oversight of building safety, accountability from property managers, and urgent measures to prevent further tragedies.
HOMii management said in a recent statement that a full investigation into the October 18 incident is currently underway and they were cooperating fully with all relevant authorities.
They have been approached for comment regarding Monday’s march.
THE MERCURY
