A home in Cape Town occupied by the mother of ANC stalwart Tony Yengeni was gutted by fire in the early hours of Monday morning.

Yengeni’s mother‚ who appeared to be the only person in the property at the Tygerhof Estate‚ was safely evacuated.

City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue spokesperson Theo Layne said the fire started in the main bedroom around 4:30am.

“The entire structure was severely damaged as well as the contents. The fire … was extinguished by 7am‚” he said.

Layne said no injuries were reported. The fire was contained to one property.

“The cause of the fire has not been determined at this stage. Only Tony’s mother was in the house. We received more than one call on the fire‚” said Layne.

Yengeni‚ an ANC veteran and former party chief whip‚ was found guilty of fraud in 2003 in a case linked to South Africa’s controversial arms deal. He had failed to disclose to parliament that he obtained a 47% discount on a Mercedes Benz SUV.

Yengeni could not immediately be reached for comment.