MOSSEL BAY NEWS - "His name, Siyamkela, means 'acceptance'.
"We accepted him into this world as our child. We accepted all his ways. Now we must accept his death too," Sibusiso Kumalo says following the loss of his son.
Siyamkela (6) died in a fire that destroyed the Kumalos' home on their smallholding in Ruiterbos on 18 November.
Sibusiso, a parkrun volunteer, left the house just after 06:00 with two of his daughters.
"I finished my run and then the police van came at about 08:00. They said I had to go home. People were waiting for me there," he tells the Mossel Bay Advertiser.
Driving home, he had no clue what awaited him. "I saw the cars, the ambulance and the windows of my house. Just black."
He says that receiving the news of Siyamkela's death was the furthest thing from his thinking.
It is too early to say how his children are dealing with the loss of their brother.
They will receive counselling to help them deal with their loss.
Nozipho, Siyamkela's mother, is having much trouble sleeping. She is a home schooler.
Sibusiso says Siyamkela was a happy boy and full of energy.
"He played the piano and loved singing. He was loved by all who met him."
The family all enjoyed participating in the parkrun and Sibusiso says that only weeks ago they all attended the event together.
"We should have taken a picture of us all then."
Sibusiso humbly says he doesn't want what happened to his family publicised as a big tragedy.
"I don't want people feeling sorry for us."
