ABOUT 150 000 people are likely to go hungry in Pietermaritzburg, due to job losses suffered as a result of widespread violence that engulfed the city last week.
The municipality said it estimated 15 000 jobs across the city have been lost, with each job supporting as many as 10 family members. About 2 500 of these jobs were lost in two malls, Edendale and Dambuza, that were looted and set alight.
Pietermaritzburg was one of the epicentres of last week’s violent unrest, looting and arson, that has been described by the government as an attempt to undermine democracy.
Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu-Thebolla said they have received a commitment from organised business in the city that they aim to rebuild some of the businesses that were damaged.
Thebolla, with the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande, visited some of the businesses destroyed during the riots.
Thebolla estimated the economic damage caused by the riots was about R2.5 billion, adding that 15 000 jobs have been lost.
“Longmarket and Church streets have become ghost towns, there is not a single business along those two streets that survived. We believe that about 15 000 jobs have been lost, the Edendale shopping centre alone employed 2 300 people, the Dambuza shopping centre that was less than a year old, employed another 300 people,” said Thebolla.
He said areas like Makro, Woodlands industrial park, and many others, were damaged. “If we look at the jobs affected, you can see that thousands of people are likely to go hungry, because one job looks after many people,” said Thebolla.
Thebolla said he remained optimistic this would not lead to businesses abandoning the city.
“We have spoken to organised businesses in the city and they have indicated that they are still committed to rebuilding in the city. The current financial position of the municipality is not great, but we are talking to the small businesses to see how we can assist. We know that some of these businesses might not have insurance or their insurance doesn't cover this type of damage, that is why we will be looking to see how we can assist,” said Thebolla.
Nzimande addressed small business owners and pleaded with them not to lose hope in the face of their financial losses.
“If we lose hope, those responsible for this attempt to undermine our democracy will win,” said Nzimande.
Chief executive of the Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business Melanie Veness said the financial losses were immense, billions of rand had been lost to opportunistic looting, wanton destruction, and pure criminality.
“The true cost will be felt going forward in lost investment. Those whose businesses have been completely gutted (and who are fortunate enough to be insured) will certainly think twice about rebuilding here. Businesses will navigate an environment for as long as it makes sense to do so and, when it doesn’t, they’ll redeploy their assets elsewhere.
“Disinvestment ends in higher unemployment and greater poverty, and we won’t be able to replace these investors easily either. New investors won’t look at an environment that is this volatile and unpredictable. Our economy is not a political football and the livelihoods of decent people are not anyone’s to gamble with. Our fragile economy is in further tatters now, and we’ll all be poorer for it,” said Veness.
The Mercury