THEY were running a spaza and renting out nine shacks, and business was going well.
But they say some people were not happy with their success.
Some even vowed they would destroy them.
The threats proved true on Tuesday night when Zwelitsha Mcelu’s spaza went up in flames.
Zwelitsha, from Everest squatter camp in Springs, Ekurhuleni, said he and his wife were sleeping when the fire started at 2am.
“We heard an explosion and when we woke up, a ball of fire had engulfed everything in my spaza.”
Zwelitsha’s bakkie, which he used to buy stock, was also destroyed by the blaze.
His shacks, which were close to the spaza, were not spared.
“My tenants lost everything. We don’t know who is behind this. But we are grateful nobody was injured.”
Zwelitsha added they knocked on the tenants’ shacks to wake them up.
“We give everything to God. Whoever did this will be punished by him.”
Dunyiswa Mpumlwana, Zwelitsha’s wife, said: “I came out of the fire wearing a nightdress and neighbours donated some clothes to us.”
When Daily Sun arrived, neighbours came to help them remove the rubble, and tenants were trying to rebuild their shacks.
Police spokesman Captain Johannes Ramphora said a case of arson was opened at Springs Police Station.
