Story by Aifheli Mudau
MORE than 30 traders in Beitbridge were left counting heavy losses after a fire swept through Tshitaudze Market on Tuesday evening, destroying goods and disrupting livelihoods, with preliminary reports pointing to illegal fuel vending as the possible cause.
The blaze, which gutted two lines of stalls at the market, popularly known as Mashavire, reduced merchandise to ashes and left affected vendors stranded.
While business resumed for some traders in Beitbridge on Wednesday morning, the situation remained dire for those operating at Tshitaudze Market, who lost their goods in the inferno.
“I am one of the people affected because I was selling groceries and other goods, but unfortunately, Tuesday evening we were affected by a fire that burnt our market, including my place, and I was left with nothing,” a vendor said.
“We were really affected, nothing was left behind, we understand the fire emanated from illegal fuel dealers,” another trader said.
“I managed to arrive before they could spread to all this place, and we managed to move our goods across the roads, but what then happened was that as we were moving our wares, some people took the chance to loot, and I was left with nothing, and now I am nowhere,” another vendor said.
“I have nowhere to start because the fire destroyed everything. I heard it very late that there was a fire in our place, and by the time I arrived here, it was too late, and everything was reduced to ashes,” another trader said.
Acting Beitbridge Municipality Town Clerk Satulani Moyo confirmed that at least 36 vendors were affected.
“The fire erased two lines of this market. From the information that we are getting, preliminary reports indicate that the fire could have emanated from some fuel, which I do not have details on whether it was diesel or petrol, but indeed it erased the front part of this market, and so far we have realised that 36 vendors were affected,” he said.
Thusani Ndou, Member of Parliament for Beitbridge West, said efforts are underway to assist affected traders.
“We will see how best we can assist these people as government, and as the Honourable Member of Parliament of this area, I will also approach the department of SMEs to see how best they can assist these affected traders to come back to life,” he said.
Government has been strengthening disaster response capacity across the country through the procurement of fire tenders from Belarus, aimed at improving preparedness for fire emergencies.
