Urgent donations needed as eMdloti Kwickspar rises from the ashes

A FEW jars of relish remain on the blackened shelves and scorched boxes of long life milk survive among the wreckage as vervet monkeys sneak down to scavenge in the debris. Little remains of the eMdloti Kwikspar which went up in flames on Monday, 5 July. With building plans underway, it is likely to re-open in December and the eMdloti community is urged to donate basic necessities toward the much-loved store’s 32 staff members.

Mandy Radmore, a property consultant who has spearheaded the donation drive, said  she is urgently looking for donations to assisst the staff.

“We are collecting donations of non-perishable foods, soap and other basic necessities. The store has served the community and the owner, Richard is always willing to help others and donate to other causes. In his time of need, for his staff and also the car guards, I thought it would be a nice gesture. They might not be getting the same income they are used to and with our help, at least we know they will be getting the necessities,” she said.

Store owner Richard Gunning welcomed the donations.

“It will certainly help the staff while we sort out our insurance,” he said.

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Radmore who works at Pam Golding, next door to the Kwickspar, said she was only able to distribute two items per staff member with the donations she had recieved so far.

“As long as people are donating, I will continue to disperse it. This could be an ongoing effort that spans a few months,” she said.

Gunning recounted the tragic sequence of events leading up to the blaze. “I was doing the budget in the office when I heard the screams. You can tell when a scream is serious, I ran out of my office and saw the smoke coming out of the ceiling board. Some of my staff had already started trying to extinguish the flames with the fire reel. I grabbed another from the bakery but the smoke was so thick, we couldn’t inhale so I told everyone to evacuate and get out of harms way,” he said.

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Store manager, Shantha Naicker said she feels heartbroken as she looks at the aftermath of the blaze.

“It is difficult to see after six years of working with customers that I love. Children from the community know me, and used to come and ask me for lollypops or chocolates. Despite this tragedy, the spirit we have is something no one can take that away from us. We would love the community to stand by us,” she said.

All donations can be delivered to the Pam Golding office on Main Road in eMdloti between 8:30am and 4pm.

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