Durban - A Phoenix family are searching for clues that could lead to the possible cause of a fire that ripped through two of their cars.
A Bantam bakkie and a Golf were destroyed by the fire in Redberry on Sunday.
Vehicle owner Pranitha Manilal said they believe it was an act of arson. Manilal said they were asleep when neighbours began screaming and alerting them to the fire in the early hours of the morning.
The fire spread from the bakkie to the Golf. The front end of the bakkie including the engine was burnt. The back of the Golf and the interior was burnt.
“We were throwing buckets of water onto the car. With the assistance of the neighbours we extinguished the fire. The estimated loss is over R60000. We are devasted, the vehicles are our only source of income. We have a photography business and we use the vehicles daily,” Manilal said.
None of their photography equipment was in the vehicles.
“The police are investigating. We would like to get to the bottom of this incident. The bakkie was working perfectly. The Golf needed the gearbox to be replaced,” Manilal said.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the complainant alleged that on 26 January 2020 at 00:30 he was sleeping at his place of residence at Rockford Drive in Phoenix.
"His two vehicles were parked in the fully fence yard. On the same day at 00:50 he woke up by the noise of his neighbours screaming stating that his vehicle was burning. He went outside and noticed his two vehicles were on fire. A case of malicious damage to property was opened at Phoenix police station for investigation,"Mbele explained.