Aphile Dlamini is the name of an eight-year-old South African girl who recently woke up from a coma after a tragic lift shaft accident in a Durban apartment building in October 2025.
Aphile and her twin brother, Aphelele, fell down a non-functional lift shaft from the fourth floor while playing on October 18, 2025. Aphelele tragically died instantly in the fall. He was laid to rest shortly after the incident.
Aphile was critically injured, suffering a broken arm, a broken leg, a spinal fracture, and bleeding on the brain, and was in a coma for nearly a month. On November 17, 2025, her father, Khaya Dlamini, announced the good news that she had regained consciousness.
The non-functional lift was not adequately blocked off, and police have opened an inquest docket. The family and civil society groups have held marches to demand justice and greater safety compliance from the building management (Homii Flats), especially since a child had died in a similar incident at the same building in 2023.
