The cause of a fire that turned the historical Komani town hall to
ruins is still unknown.
The town hall burned to the ground in the early morning
hours of Saturday, 29 January, despite massive community efforts to save the
building.
Various municipal offices, including the Office of the
Executive Mayor, Office of the Speaker, Chief Whip’s Office, Municipal
Manager’s office, COO’s office and Corporate Services Department (Human
Resources and Administration) were housed in the building.
According to a press release by the Enoch Mgijima Local
Municipality (EMLM), all furniture and working equipment were destroyed. While
residents have been assured that the town hall was insured, no amount of money
can repair or replace the loss of historical value and sentiment surrounding
the 140 year old building.
“Komani Town Hall was constructed in 1882 and has serviced members
of the community all these years. It was one of the notable heritage sites of
EMLM,” spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa said. The destruction of the municipal offices
will have an impact on the services rendered by EMLM, and new arrangements on
office accommodation are being made.
“We urge anyone with information that can assist the investigation
to report to SAPS or Municipal offices,” Kowa said, commending the bravery and
patriotism of the Community Police Forum (CPF) and several other volunteers who
prevented adjacent buildings from also catching fire.
“It has been a very sad day for our town to lose a building that
was that old. We lost such an important and valuable asset…it felt like we lost our parliament building last night,” said Juan van der Walt, spokesperson for
the CPF.
While the town suffered this irreversible loss, inspiring tales of heroism and bravery are rising from the ashes.
“I am very grateful to the CPF members who literally put their lives
at risk last night – the one roof collapsed about three minutes after we
finally walked out,” said Van der Walt.
Several members of the SAPD arrived on
scene, as well as traffic officials and ambulances. Local fire brigade members
also came, but their hands were tied, as they currently have no proper
resources.
“The community was absolutely amazing,” Van der Walt told Komani-Karoo Express.
“Ryder towing company came with their
water tanker trucks, as well as many other members of the community with water
tanks and pumps on vehicles. Simon Morris who hires out forklifts brought a
forklift to raise up a platform from which fire fighting volunteers could start
extinguishing the blaze raging on the first floor. We had residents bringing us
cooldrink and water at two o’clock in the morning. It was humbling to watch the entire inclusive community coming out at
that time of the night to assist – it was about the town. This is the kind of
place you want to raise your kids, where your neighbour actually cares about you.”
