Fire will not stop the ‘heartbeat of Letsitele’
Despite the heartbreak, Viljoen and his team are trying their best to look forward and find a silver lining.
Following on from the fire that engulfed the restaurant area of the Letaba Junction in the early hours of Friday, July 27, Alfie Viljoen, Managing Director and Shareholder of the premises refuses to feel downbeat about the disaster.
Speaking with the LETABA HERALD, Viljoen said, “The crying was done over the weekend. We have 32 staff that are looking at me with sad eyes and they all have families to support, we need to move on.”
The fire which started just before 04:00 on Friday morning, devastated the restaurant, bar and craft shops on the premises.
Read:Â Restaurant engulfed in flames in Letsitele
At the time of going to press, the exact cause of the blaze had not yet been determined but initial reports from the fire brigade show that the most heat was experienced between the bar and the craft shop.
Just the evening before the blaze, the directors and shareholders of the business held a meeting to discuss plans for the growth of the business. The board have been in talks for some time over the expansion of the accommodation section, adding four new rooms and also enlarging the kitchen area.
The money for the expansion project was approved that evening, “We had a lot of plans, the business was growing exponentially, the timing couldn’t be worse as we had a lot of year-end functions booked,” said Viljoen.
Read:Â UPDATE and GALLERY: Restaurant in ruins after blaze breaks out in Letsitele
As well wishers, patrons and friends visited the ruins of the restaurant over the weekend, Viljoen and his team realised that so many local people have a lot of memories of the Junction, “There is a lot of heritage in the Junction, we realised from the stories that it is actually the heartbeat of Letsitele.”
Despite the heartbreak, Viljoen and his team are trying their best to look forward and find a silver lining, “We are just thankful that nobody was injured. With the community we’ve got, we will make the Junction bigger and better. We don’t have all the answers, but maybe there is a bigger plan from above.”
Thankfully the blaze was controlled before too much damage was done to the accommodation area, with only one room receiving fire damage and one suffering smoke damage.
