“This is the hand of God at work,” were the words of Mr Nthambeleni Munyai of Thohoyandou P East, after a further donation of R5 000 towards rebuilding his house was presented to him by a well-known Thohoyandou businessman.

Munyai suffered a serious setback when his ten-roomed house mysteriously burnt down with all its contents going up in smoke, causing hundreds of thousands of rands’ worth of damage.

“As neighbours, we have to assist each other in times of need,” said Mr Patel Hanif, well-known businessperson who owns, amongst his businesses, Alif Wholesalers in Thohoyandou. Patel said he saw the incident happening as a neighbour and his heart bled to see his neighbour’s possessions that he worked for so long going up in smoke. “I imagined myself in his position and felt that something had to be done to ease his suffering.”

He said he donated the first R5 000 with the hope that others would follow suit and assist and maybe Munyai could have two rooms ready before Christmas. “After some looking at the progress, I found that the amount I donated was not close to even buying the wood for the roofing and this prompted me to donate a further R5 000,” he said. He urged the community to rally behind the family in their time of need. “They are still in a state of confusion and they need our support,” he said.

Cllr Grace Mahosi for the Thulamela municipality said after the news of the fire reached their offices, they swiftly dispatched a disaster management team to asses the situation. “This is a most trying time to the family and we can say today that we will support the family with whatever we can.”