By Thabisa Ndzindzwa
The community of Mt Ayliff, Eastern Cape was dealing with load shedding on Sunday morning when they suddenly saw dark smoke coming from the Siza Supermarket.
Soon, the fire that started in one shop had spread to two other stores and all three were burnt to ashes.
Mohamid Abrahman who has owned Siza Supermarket and the storeroom next to it for 20 years, said the damage caused by the fire was immeasurable.
“It was around 8am when the fire erupted from the roof at the back moving to the front. I lost everything because the fire was so strong that we could not save anything but our lives,” he said.
One of the workers at Siza Supermarket, Babini Sabisa, said losing a job during the festive season was the last thing he had in mind.
“I don’t have any plans moving forward because I depend on this job, but I do not see myself going back home to Ntabankulu. I will stay and hustle – maybe something will come up,” he said.
The Alfred Nzo district fire and rescue services received the report of the fire at 8:30am. Chief fire officer Zolile Vuko said it’s not clear yet on what might have caused the fire.
“On arrival the one building was already alight, but we could not contain it within the same building because there was a passage next to the storeroom that had been closed creating space for a mini shop, which exacerbated the fire,” he said.
“A lot has been saved in terms of protected risk, but at the same time there is so much damage. We managed to contain the fire at Mt Ayliff Motor Spares, saving three shops, including Boxer Super Stores.”
In a raid three days earlier, Vuko said they noticed that the buildings had been overstocked, with goods packed from floor to ceiling.
Pictured above: Burnt shops in Mt Ayliff
Image source: Thabisa Ndzindzwa
