Following yet another blaze in which a historic building was destroyed last week, Mthatha’s business community has expressed concern over the growing number of fires at various business premises in the city.
The fire, which gutted a pharmacy and a bedding shop in the city’s main street, was the latest in a series of such incidents recently.
The blaze is said to have reduced everything to ashes and is estimated to have cost millions of rands in destroyed stock.
Two weeks ago, Mthatha residents were left stunned when one of the city’s most popular supermarkets, Jimmy’s Spar, was also destroyed by fire.
According to Vuyisile Ntlabati, who is the Chairperson of the OR Tambo Chamber Of Business, last week’s fire brought to five(5) the number of businesses shut down because of fire in the city in the last two years.
Ntlabati said the rapid succession of fires in the city centre has led to rumours and speculation among the business community and the populace at large.
“Although this cannot be proven, there is suspicion of criminality. For example, regarding last week’s incident, there are reports of looting by a crowd of people outside the building,” he said.
“Crime is thriving in Mthatha, so you cannot divorce the burning down of businesses from the general climate of crime. As business, this is affecting us badly as insurance costs are now
bound to go up.”
“These incidents also will also negatively affect investment in our city, as no investor will risk putting their money in a seemingly lawless environment. Also, the loss of jobs is a blow to an area with an already high unemployment rate,” Ntlabati said.
The cause of the fire – as is the case with all the others – is still not known.
According to the police spokesperson in Mthatha, Sergeant Kaya Matola- Mvanyashe, an inquiry docket has been opened in connection with the incident.
Inquiries are also still ongoing pertaining to the other recent incidents of fire in Mthatha, Matola- Mvanyashe said.
The historic nature of the venue of last week’s fire derives from an incident in 1998, when the late President Nelson Mandela sheltered there during a tornado that killed 14 people in the city.
Mandela, who had been buying a special soap at the pharmacy, escaped injury by lying down on the floor as the tornado raged outside.
In July 2021, the similarly historic Grosvenor Hotel was razed to the ground by fire. The hotel was no longer used for accommodation, but there were shops including a bottle store and hair salons operating on the premises.
Hardly three months earlier, the iconic Transkei Hotel was also destroyed by a blaze. Despite several requests, the King Sabata Dalindyebo(KSD) municipality had not made a comment on the matter at the time of writing.
Article by Mandla Zibi | 0631452504