Johannesburg – Former Orlando Pirates veteran and captain Lucky Lekgwathi is struggling to get his restaurant, which was looted and vandalised during the recent violent unrest, to rise from the ashes.
The restaurant, Grootman, which opened in April in Kliptown, Soweto was not spared when protests erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng and businesses were looted and destroyed following the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma last month for contempt of a Constitutional Court order. Lekgwathi, who played for the Buccaneers for 14 years, told Sunday World that he had only managed to raise R35 000 of the R400 000 that he initially invested in the business.
“I am humbled and ‘thank you very much’ to those who contributed. Such incidents can really kill your dreams,” said Lekgwathi.
[membership level=”1″]
After the looting, Lekgwathi’s ransacked shop was visited by high-profile politicians and celebrities who offered hope but nothing has come forth as yet, only empty promises. Gauteng premier David Makhura was one of those who visited and held discussions with Lekgwathi.
At the time, Makhura sang praises of members of the community and activists for taking on looters in the absence of the state security institutions, thereby putting their own lives in danger.
The premier also added that the state needed to pay attention to the lack of capacity in security institutions.
“Many people came to the shop and made empty promises and contributed nothing. I understand many other businesses suffered a lot as well, but it’s painful when people in your own community do these things to you,” Lekgwathi told Sunday World.
“I appreciate all the help and we are trying our best to revive the business. We had about eight people working in the shop and we are hoping that they will have their jobs back in the future.
“It’s not easy but we are trying because I took a lot of money from my savings in starting this business. “When we go broke, people judge us and say soccer players do not invest their money, but look at what happened now.”
During the week of unrest last month, more than 342 people died and thousands of businesses were looted or burned down, and infrastructure damaged, costing the country about R50-billion.
Lekgwathi is arguably Bucs’ most successful captain, having lifted six trophies in two seasons under Dutch legend Ruud Krol, making Pirates the only club to have won the double treble since the formation of the PSL.
Those who want to contribute can contact Lekgwathi’s foundation.
To read more political news and views from this week’s newspaper, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
[/membership] [pmpro_signup submit_button=”Register” level=”1″ login=”1″ redirect=”referrer” short=”false” title=”Register to view Exclusive Content” short=”true” custom_fields=”true”]
