Durban: True Art Printers, a 50-year-old family-run business based in the Springfield Industrial Park, will rise again.
“There is still a lot to do after the property was torched, but we are hoping to rebuild the warehouse in about a year,” said Sandesh Ramdutt.
The business is owned by his dad, Nundraj Ramdutt, 76, and it is run by Sandesh and his siblings Ashveer and Renosha.
He said they were currently liaising with Sasria, who have assessed the damage. Sasria, according to its website, is the only non-life insurer that provides special risk cover to all individuals and businesses that own assets in South Africa as well as government entities. They provide cover against risks such as civil commotion, public disorder and terrorism.
“We are waiting for the payment to be made so that we can start building.”
Sandesh said they were losing millions in revenue as the business remained closed.
True Art Printers was established in the 1960s and it assisted the ANC and Natal Indian Congress's underground movement, with printing during apartheid. The building and its content, which included documentation, machinery and supplies, were torched.
“We have seen what we have worked so hard for – our livelihoods – burn to ashes. We had decades’ worth of stock in the warehouse. Machines were demolished to bare metal. Our paper and other supplies were burnt. Our loss runs into hundreds of millions. We are in financial distress.”
Ramdutt said the fire took three days to extinguish.
“Multiple fire brigades tried to douse the fire but there was too much stock in the warehouse.”
He said the business was everything to his dad and he still gets depressed thinking about the loss.
“This was my father’s livelihood. He put his blood, sweat and tears into the business. There are so many memories. He recently lost his wife, my mother, to cancer and now his business. At his age, to see everything shattered is unimaginable. What more can you do to him? He is crippled from this loss.”
He said the business closure affected a number of employees and their families.
“They have mouths to feed. Where are they going to get work from?”
The insurance payout, he said, would never bring back what they had lost. He said they also had business tenants on the property and that they were also affected.
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