Load shedding eats man's R1 million!

BUSINESSMAN Joel Legodi lost everything when his shop burnt down.

Joel from Vosloorus in Ekurhuleni said the damage is estimated at R1 million.

He said he suspected the impact of electricity after it came back during load shedding at night.

"Load shedding will cause more problems for us. The shop caught fire at about 10:20pm, and people came running to my place to inform me because I live a few meters away from the shop," said Joel.

He said he rushed to the shop and when he arrived, he was greeted by fire while people were trying to kill the blaze with buckets of water.

"I had to rush to the municipality to get the emergency officials and when I came back, it was already late. My shop was burned, and there was no way to save the stoves and other electric appliances," he said.

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He said when they closed the shop on that fateful day, they switched off all the electrical appliances. The shop sells food, kotas, and cold drinks.

"I'm shattered that the business, which I've been running since 1991, went up in smoke before my eyes. I had to be strong, yet I know deep down in my heart, seeing the business that has been a source of income is gone,' said Legodi.

He said the incident has left his workers without jobs.

"As much I'm in pain of losing everything, I'm also worried about the workers who will be without jobs. Most of them depended on the salary they got from the shop to support their families," said Legodi.

Legodi said he puts everything in God's hands.

"In the bible, we know the story of Shadrack, Misheck, and Abednego were put in the fire, but there was a fourth person in there. When I turned the situation, I said what if the fire happened when we were still at the shop? God took us away, and there was a fire because we could have lost someone's life," said Legodi.

He said Job in the bible lost everything, but he kept on praising the Lord.

"There is a restoration in life, and I leave everything in the hands of God," said Legodi.

Ekurhuleni disaster and emergency management services spokesman William Ntladi said their members attended the scene where a shop was on fire.

"When the teams arrived on the scene, the roof had already collapsed, and part of the wall structure was engulfed in flames. The team managed to extinguish the intense fire," said William.