Durban - In July last year the Upper Highway community was not spared from the destruction caused by the civil unrest and looting.
At Pine Crest Centre in Pinetown and Watercrest Mall in Waterfall, many stores were looted and vandalised last year.
Watercrest Mall spokesperson Liz Roux said a year on, they find themselves filled with gratitude.
She said they were thankful to the community patrols who selflessly protected the community and families during the unrest.
“We were proud of our brave and resilient tenants as they started cleaning and clearing their stores as soon as it was safe to do so. Checkers and their dedicated staff went above and beyond to ensure they were open again just four days later, to provide much needed groceries to our community during the shortage.
“We are grateful to our Watercrest Mall service providers who bravely faced this event, and were then paramount in returning our beautiful mall back to its former glory. This was a monumental task, under way within days.
“Our community immediately rallied to pitch in and clean up Watercrest and the surrounding roads in our suburb.
“The sheer volume of messages expressing care and concern sent via social media, and the encouraging words on our Wall of Hope, served as a beacon of hope for many of us in those difficult times,” she said.
However, the mall had to say goodbye to some of their stores including fashion outlets, travel and estate agents.
But they have also welcomed many new store openings since the riots.
“From the Watercrest Mall centre management team, we would like to thank our tenants and the Upper Highway residents for your continued support and kindness,” she added.
In Pinetown, many stores and shopping centres were gutted and stripped of everything, including the Pine Crest Mall at the heart of the town.
Pine Crest Centre management said their teams pulled out all the stops to restore the centre quickly for their tenants and customers, and the mall has been fully operational and back to its original splendour since the beginning of November last year.
Reconstruction started in early August, with the final remedial works completed at the end of October.
“Almost all our original stores re-opened, but despite generous assistance and support provided by the centre, unfortunately, a few smaller shops could no longer afford to continue trading.
“We would like to highlight the tremendous support Pine Crest Centre received from the community during the unrest, and the ongoing loyal support we have enjoyed since,” said centre management.
A Highway resident always at the forefront of community safety, Andreas Mathios, said the extent of damage caused by the looting has demolished job-creation opportunities.
“The looters who lived five minutes from where they worked and they destroyed that opportunity of employment and convenience, for them they thought it was a pay day, but they didn’t realise the extent of investment.
“There were also criminal opportunists who used the civil unrest for criminal activity. I believe the people who looted should evaluate their lives to see where they are now,” he said.
Mathios added that in as much as the looting jeopardised the safety of communities, he believes that most communities were well-organised to deal with safety.