Durban father demands justice after twins’ lift shaft tragedy

A Durban father, Khaya Dlamini, says he is struggling to get answers from Homii Lifestyle Management as he seeks justice for his twins.

Dlamini joined a protest outside the Homii residential building on Dr Pixley KaSeme Street, where hundreds of people and representatives from various organisations gathered to demand accountability.

His eight-year-old twins, Aphelele and Aphile, reportedly fell from the fourth floor to the basement while playing in the building’s common area on 18 October.

Aphelele died instantly, while Aphile remains in hospital fighting for her life.

@wittydlaminie

Ey abenze bevale lento yabo!!!! #justicefordlaminitwins

♬ Safa Saphel’ Isizwe – S’busiso Ngema

Mkhonto wesizwe and March and March have come up in numbers to demand justice for the Dlamini Twins. pic.twitter.com/xrEmuIPVKv

— EzemveloZulu (@MveloZulu88) October 27, 2025

The picket took place on what would have been the twins’ ninth birthday.

@justadvocacy

🚨In a gut-wrenching tale of parental devastation and alleged corporate indifference, the death of an 8-year-old boy and the critical injury of his twin sister in a preventable elevator accident has ignited a firestorm of public fury on social media. The incident at Homii Flats, a residential complex in Durban, has exposed what grieving father Khaya Dlamini describes as a “ticking time bomb” of building safety failures, unlocked, faulty lift doors that turned a playful moment into unimaginable tragedy. As Mr. Dlamini fights for accountability, the hashtag #JusticeForDlaminiTwins is exploding across X (formerly Twitter), with thousands of shares amplifying calls for a full investigation into potential criminal negligence. The horror unfolded early this morning at Homii Flats – a trendy co-living hub at 183 King Dinuzulu Road in Berea, marketed as a vibrant “community of go-getters” with rooftop hangs and city-center perks. Mr. Dlamini’s inseparable 8-year-old twins, full of schoolyard dreams and sibling giggles, were near the fourth-floor elevator when disaster struck. “The faulty lift doors were not locked,” Mr. Dlamini shared in a gut-wrenching X thread viewed 12,000+ times. Without warning, the unsecured doors yawned open, plunging the children down a dark, 40-50 foot shaft to the basement below. Rescue teams arrived minutes later to a father’s desperate retrieval of his broken babies from the pit. Tragically, Mr. Dlamini’s son succumbed to his injuries at the scene, blunt force trauma shattering a life too young to fathom. His daughter, the family’s “little warrior,” was airlifted to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital’s ICU, where she’s battling a cocktail of horrors: multiple fractures, internal hemorrhaging, and swelling that threatens her young brain. “She’s fighting for every breath, but without her brother… it’s like half my soul is gone,” Mr. Dlamini told X users in a follow-up, his words laced with the hollow echo of fresh grief. Khaya Dlamini’s cry isn’t just for his twins, it’s for every overlooked hazard in our concrete jungles. “I need justice… so no other parent buries their light,” he posted. Join the chorus: Share JustiJusticeForDlaminiTwins@SAPS, @HumanSettlementsKZN. Because grief like this? It demands action, not alibis. 💔✊🏾

♬ Distance – TWO LANES

Dlamini gave an emotional account of his family’s pain, saying it has been ten days since the tragedy, yet he has not received any communication from the building’s management.

He expressed disappointment in how Homii handled the incident, saying the managers offered him a grocery bag and a teddy bear, a gesture he found deeply insulting, in the face of his family’s loss.

Since the tragedy, Dlamini has taken to social media to rally support and demand justice for his children. He has accused the building’s management of withholding surveillance footage of the incident and of failing to cooperate with police investigations.

He also claims that residents have been threatened and warned to not speak to him or his wife.

@khaya_dlamini

#JusticeForDlaminiTwins #justice4twins

♬ original sound – Khaya Dlamini

KwaZulu-Natal police have opened an inquest docket, while Homii Lifestyle Management says it has launched a full investigation.