Complex on fire for second time

Mystery surrounds the fire that consumed almost half of a shopping complex in Malamulele. The fire, which happened at the Malamulele Crossing Complex on Sunday evening, completely gutted seven shops in the complex.

The fire was reported at around midnight. Damage is estimated at R9 million and this has affected hundreds of workers, who were seen watching in disbelief next to the burnt-out complex. Shopkeepers, some affected by the fire and others whose shops were not affected, were seen loading what they could into their bakkies.

Residents say they find it strange that the complex burnt as it was also burnt down last year when millions of rands worth of property went up in smoke when angry residents were protesting and demanding that they be given their own municipality, separate from Thulamela. The community has been granted their own municiplaity.

The owner of the complex, believed to be from Thohoyandou, refused to comment, saying it was up to the police to do their work to find the cause of the fire. A spokesperson for the police said that it was still premature to say that it was arson but that the possibility could not be ruled out. “Our police forensic teams are at the complex, combing it for evidence and, hopefully, the cause of the fire will be uncovered,” she said.

Date:08 July 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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