Hawkers who sell their goods next to the taxi ranks in the centre of Makhado town were left stranded after their shacks had been destroyed by a fire last Wednesday night.

Twenty shacks were destroyed by the fire, which might have been started by jealous rivals.

A security guard who works next to the taxi rank, Mr Samuel Muthelo, said that the fire started at one of the shacks around midnight. “When I saw the fire, it had already destroyed one shack and the other shacks were burning,” he said. “We then called fire fighters, but when they arrived with a water tanker, the fire had already destroyed the shacks,” he said. The fire was extinguished in a matter of minutes, but by that time most of the shacks had been reduced to ashes.

When Mirror arrived at the scene last Thursday morning, the hawkers were busy cleaning up. One of the hawkers whose shack had burnt down, Ms Dorah Ramuthivheli, said that she had lost everything. She saw the smoke from a distance when approaching the market area early the next morning. "I thought somebody was just burning dustbins near the taxi rank, but was shocked when I arrived there to find out that the shacks had burnt down,” she said.

She added that she did not understand what the motive for the arson attack could be, as they had no enemies. “Whoever burned down my shack has caused great damage to my family. I lost everything that belonged to me, from stock to my chairs and tables,” she said. The damage is estimated at R70 000. She said that the hawkers were now facing difficult times. “We do not even have a decent place to put our things," she said.

Ramuthivheli appealed to people to assist them during this difficult time. "I don't know how I am going to rebuild my shack, because I don't have money,” Ramuthivheli said.

The spokesperson for the Makhado police, Capt Maano Sadiki, confirmed the incident. “We have opened a case of arson and we are continuing with investigations,” he said. He was sceptical about claims that the burning of the shack was an act of arson. "The cause of the fire is unknown," he said.

Makhado Hawkers' Association spokesperson Mr Dollen Negota warned people not to jump to conclusions. “We need to be very cautious,” said Negota. “If it is a person who started this fire, then the police will find out. People are, however, using gas stoves and paraffin primus stoves to cook, which also is not safe," he said. Negota appealed to the local municipality to allow them to use nearby electrical connections. He argued that this will help prevent fires which may pose a danger to buses and taxis.

Makhado Municipality spokesperson Louis Bobodi conveyed the municipality's sympathy to the vendors and hawkers who were affected by the fire.