The family of the man, who confessed to setting Usindiso building, in Marshaltown, alight, killing 76 people, said they haven't seen him in years. Sithembiso Mdlalose (31) made his second appearance at the Johannesburg Magistrates Court today on a count of arson, 76 counts of murder and 86 counts of attempted murder.

HE LEFT HOME AFTER RECEIVING A BONUS 

The accused's father ,who refused to be named, told ZiMoja that he last saw his son nine years ago when he left home in Soweto. He said he was clueless about what transpired and shocked that his son was capable of doing what he is accused of. "I got a call from his aunt, who is my sister, that she got a visit from the police and they told her that Sithembiso confessed to starting a fire that killed a lot of people. I was even surprised that he was still alive because he had left home to live in the streets," he said. The father added that he wondered what his son looked like now because it had been a while since he last saw him. "He is a very intelligent boy, an A student to be exact, but unfortunately he was consumed by drugs. The last time I saw him he had gotten a bonus from an insurance company that he was working for. He left home on that day and never came back," the father said. He said it broke his heart that his son has gotten himself into so much trouble and prayed for an opportunity to speak to him so he can hear all the details from the horse's mouth. "The police showed me a picture of him looking very thin and frail. He is naturally a chubby person. My child has been consumed by Joburg lights and despite several attempts of trying to look for him, we couldn't find him."

COURT CASE POSTPONED

NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwana said the matter was once again postponed pending postmortem results from some of the unidentified deceased. "We are still awaiting a few results of postmortems of some of the people who died in the fire. We've also given instructions to SAPS to conduct a pointing out with the accused person. We are also waiting for J88 reports from the doctor so that we can conclude investigations." Mjonondwane said. She added that they were also waiting for the Department of Home Affairs to complete the profiling report of the accused in order to determine if he is a South African citizen and it could take up to a week to finalise. The state said they will still oppose bail, however, the defence of the accused Dumisani Mabunda said they won't be applying for bail. The matter will be back in court in early March.