Durban - A year after the July unrest which was sparked by the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma, which saw businesses looted and torched, five historic township malls are still standing in ruins.
One of the malls is Ithala Centre in KwaMashu township in Durban. Ithala which is owned by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government owns several malls across the province which were heavily affected by the looting and vandalism.
The historic KwaMashu Mall was the first one to be built in the township before competitors like the KwaMashu Shopping Centre and Bridge City came into the picture.
It was also among the first malls to be hit when the looting started. However, the mall, unlike Bridge City and KwaMashu Shopping Centre, was not burnt down after being looted.
Instead, vagrants moved in and started stripping off steel, windows and roofing, leaving it in total ruin.
In response to questions by IOL, Sitandiwe Dimba, Ithala Group Reputation Manager, said in their portfolio of properties five retail centres had still not been fixed.
They were still waiting for the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) to approve claims for damages to the Sundumbili Plaza in Mandeni, KwaMashu Centre, Nongoma Plaza, Umlazi Shopping Centre and Eshowe Shopping Centre.
“Limited resources have had to be carefully allocated to cater for the repairs and we are systematically working our way through our properties’ repairs. While the process of rebuilding takes time, we are making great progress… The rebuild programme is expected to commence by 1 September 2022, pending finalisation of the claim by Sasria,” Dimba said.
Among the malls the state-owned entity has managed to rebuild are the Umlazi V Shopping Centre in the south of Durban and KwaDabeka Shopping Centre in Clermont, west of Durban.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
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