Jobs on the line after destruction
Many shops in the area suffered dire consequences after members of the public looted shops of valuables worth thousands of rands during the country's unrest last week.
Mpumalanga News interviewed some of the shop owners about what they had lost, and what their plans for reopening their shops were.
A distraught Aezaz Dahya, owner of Dahya Supermarket and Furniture Shop situated along the main streets in Matsulu, said he still has no idea how to rebuild and retain work for six of his employees. He said the events of the day were still vividly clear in his mind.
READ: 50 people arrested in connection with looting in Matsulu
“I lost stock worth more than R350 000 in 30 minutes’ time. About 200 people came in here in more than 25 bakkies. They broke the palisade wall fence and continued to pull down burglar bars at the main entrance of my shops. They broke the glass windows and took everything in a space of less than an hour; everything including groceries, cellphone accessories and household furniture from all my shops,” he said.
Dahya continued to say that his business was not insured, but he hoped to make a plan to rebuild. “I am broke at the moment, but I had to make a plan to find money and to buy stock and run my business again. We trust in Allah that He will eventually make something for us, or even better things than what we had before the looting,” he said.
He added that he loved the people of Matsulu and knows that a majority of them loved him, as they always supported his business. “I cannot blame everyone for what happened here. It was just a few individuals, not the whole community,” he said.
Aezaz’s brother Asif runs Best Build Hardware on the same premises, and was equally devastated by the looting.
READ: NCC warns suppliers not to inflate prices of essential items
“I had arranged more security personnel and a few friends to guard my business, but they were overpowered by the mob. They stole a lot of hardware material inside the shop; I even lost count. They stole more than half of the equipment stored behind the shop, including roofing material, garage doors, window frames, doors frames and a lot besides. We are still verifying the exact figure of the damages,” he said. Asif said he had no plan at the moment, as his business was not insured. “I am still thinking of what to do next. I still owe suppliers and I have no idea what to do next.”
Collette Simelane, a spokesperson for Debonairs, said looters also emptied the shop of all equipment.
“We are just hopeful that all our 18 staff will retain their jobs, as our management had promised to save them. Fixing the damaged property has already begun,” she said.
Michelle Rodgers, the chief executive of Cashbuild, said a total of 36 of the chain’s stores, including 32 Cashbuild and 4 P&L Hardware stores, one of which is in Matsulu, were damaged and looted in the country.
“Cashbuild has insurance cover in place for such events to minimise losses to the group. We will initiate a process of rebuilding, restoring and restocking the affected stores for trading which, dependent on the nature and extent of the damage, will determine the timeline to reopen,” said Rodgers.
Mahhashane Makhubela, a concerned member of the community, said they were working together with various stakeholders to safeguard the place from any further vandalism.
“Anyone who thinks of taking a chance to further cause public violence must think twice, because we will not tolerate this. We have divided ourselves into groups to protect shops around here. We strongly condemn the barbaric behavior in our community and fully support law enforcers to arrest all those concerned,” he said.
