DURBAN - EThekwini informal traders have called out the municipality for not sympathising with them after they lost more than R1 million worth of stock in a building that was gutted by fire on Thursday.
The building on Dr AB Xuma (formerly Commercial) Road in the city, which caught fire in the evening, was used by street traders as a storage facility.
Traders’ spokesperson Themba Mkhize said they were disappointed that after four days none of the municipality officials had visited the gutted building to assess the damage or at least to show sympathy with the traders who lost their stock.
Mkhize said the stock that was kept in the building had an estimated value of between R1m to R2m.
He accused the municipality of having double standards, saying that it was not that long ago that senior city officials rushed to the China Emporium building which was burning on Anton Lembede Street in the city – but the same officials failed to show up to the building where traders, mainly poor black people, had lost their livelihood, adding that more than 1 500 traders were affected.
“We are calling on the municipality to, like it normally does, treat this fire as a disaster and give support to the traders who lost their stock.
“We are tenants in the municipality and we contribute to the economy of the city as informal traders but we were disappointed that none of the officials have ever visited the building or called to give us support,” said Mkhize.
He added that the municipality has a business support department that is meant to support business in the city but no one from the department had contact them.
One of the traders, Ntombizile Gebashe, from Klaarwater in Pinetown, said that she lost all her bead stock and was sitting at home because she did not have money to return to her business site.
Speaking to the Daily News which visited the gutted building on Monday, Gebashe said her main concern was that there were customers who had ordered her work and paid deposits who were to come to collect their product on Friday morning.
“We urgently need help from our government to continue supporting our families.
“We saw the government helping businesses that were looted and we hope we will get help as well.”
The Daily News team has learnt that the cause of the fire could have been the result of two people who had a heated argument over payment.
One trader who also lost his stock said that before the building caught fire the two people were heard arguing over payment and one remained behind while the other left; soon after the fire erupted.
Metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Parboo Sewpersad said that when police interviewed the hawkers they said they suspected that the fire was caused by leaked gas, but police did not find any gas container or cylinder.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the city’s officials were still assessing the situation and, once completed, the municipality would see how it could “chart the way forward”.
Daily News