Cebelihle Bhengu
Africa-Press – South-Africa. Quiet police-guarded streets, buzzing generators and traders in despair – this was the sight of Lilian Ngoyi Street (formerly known as Bree Street) in the Johannesburg city centre on the first Saturday after a fatal gas explosion damaged parts of the busy street on Wednesday.
On a typical Saturday, street traders run busy and profitable businesses. But the explosion that unexpectedly cleared the streets and accompanying pedestrian traffic has left them without customers and counting their losses.
“This is worse than lockdown,” said Ayman Abdela Huldar, who owns a clothing shop on the corner of Gwigwi Mrwebi and Lilian Ngoyi Streets.
“During the lockdown, transportation was available, the roads were not blocked, and we had electricity,” he said.
There were no customers, only four employees on the floor. A generator outside the entrance kept the lights on in the shop amid forced electricity outages.
Services to the blast area and surrounds were cut off as officials determined the cause of the explosion.
Huldar said this was a most unusual sight for the busy street.
“I did not anticipate the explosion would affect my business this way. Weekends starting on Fridays, are the busiest days for my business. There is no transportation and therefore no customers. The street is blocked, and people are afraid to come to this street in case the explosion happens again,” he said.
Huldar spends R500 on electricity every two days, but since the explosion, he is forced to foot a daily R750 petrol bill to keep some lights on.
Johannesburg City Power switched off the lights in the inner city after the gas explosion ripped parts of Lilian Ngoyi Street on Wednesday. It said it would restore it on Monday after excess gas was cleared.
The blast claimed one life and left 48 injured, many of them hospitalised.
Informal trader Nando Simango sells avocados on the street. When he spoke to News24 before 09:00, he said he hadn’t sold any of his stock, which was unheard of considering the usual foot traffic near the Bree taxi rank.
He said his business had borne the brunt of the explosion since Thursday.
He described a typical Saturday , saying: “Business is booming. People walk up and down” the city centre.
On Simmonds Street, some businesses are closed. Among the few open was a wig shop by Maureen Macambo. From her salon, Several patrolling Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officers on foot and in state vehicles could be seen.
Macambo sewed a wig as she spoke about her plight since the unexpected blast. She said she could not close up shop because she was the sole breadwinner. Her business supported her unemployed husband and their five children.
She added, “I must work for my kids. I agree that this is worse than lockdown. When it was lockdown, people phoned me for house calls. Right now, it’s quiet, and there is no electricity. We don’t know for how long. I make the most money on weekends, starting on Friday, and I’m sorted by Sunday.
“It’s never been this empty. I own a wig shop, and women are born every day, so I should not be out of business. People are scared to come to this side.”
Macambo’s salon is within a short distance of FNB’s Bank City offices on Kerk and Simmonds Streets. Traders who rent out stalls in this vicinity were closed. Macambo said this also killed her business.
Although she would not disclose how much monthly rent she paid, Macambo said it was expensive because her stall was on one of the busy streets in the inner city.
She said she was at her salon when the blast ripped through Lilian Ngoyi Street. She said she temporarily closed out of shock.
“I hid inside and reopened after it went quiet again. Other businesses haven’t opened since. They are scared that the explosion might happen again,” she said.
Source: News24
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