The Zolani Centre, a municipal building housing two NGOs – including one helping the disabled – and a creche, suffered extensive fire damage in Nyanga last week.
The leadership of the Sonwabile Disabled Self Help Association and Phakama Mfazi, a non-profit organisation that teaches women sewing, say the fire in the early hours of Tuesday August 27 is just the latest in a string of misfortunes, as the two organisations have also been hit by two robberies in the past six months.
Sonwabile manager Sudi Kampangura said the organisation offered a vital source of income for its members through its work programmes.
The centre provides various services such as bead work, sewing of traditional attire and computer training that benefit people living with disabilities from Nyanga and the surrounding area.
“We received a call from the local councillor who said there was a fire in our building. According to him, the fire was uncontrollable, resulting in nothing being left in the Phakama Mfazi room,” he said.
Mr Kampangura said he suspected the fire, which gutted one room and left another two with no electricity, had been started deliberately by someone trying to break in as there was evidence of an attempt being made to force open a door at the back of the building.
“It was clear that these people have been observing us… In the last six months, we have been robbed twice, and now this. We are losing a lot of our valuables here.
“There are boys that are always sitting at the back smoking drugs. We have been complaining about that and asking for security, but we are always told there is no money for that. But I hope someone can see that there is a need for security.”
Sonwabile chairperson Buyile Vava said: “We are really having a challenge when it comes to safety here. We are still worried because we do not know when the criminals are going to come again and finish their work.
“We are not not sure when the building will be fixed again. We appeal to the authorities to do something to protect our assets,” he said.
Phakama Mfazi’s manager, Noxolo Nuse, said the fire had destroyed ten of their sewing machines, and it would cost more than R20 000 to replace them.
“I am lost for words because one machine is expensive. The overall loss is massive. We have tables, sewing materials, chairs, sewing machines and many other things. You can imagine the loss. I am devastated.”
She said that with no sewing machines or materials to run the lessons, she and the five women she worked with were now sitting at home in confusion.
Ward councillor Sandile Martin said he had asked the City to provide security for the building but had not had a response.
“That building is beyond repair. My worry is that the creche has also been affected. There is no electricity there. It is worrying because I have tried many times to speak sense to the powers that be, but nothing has happened. People have lost their valuables, and they might not recover from that. It is painful to see progressive NPOs losing out like that. Now we might have other people jobless because of stupidity.”
City Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse said the cause of the fire was unknown.
The police and the City did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication.
