An entire street of businesses in the automotive and engineering sector have shut down after years of battling cable theft, illegal connections, crime, and vandalism in Jeppestown, Johannesburg Suburban street resembles a ghost town, as most businesses on it have been shut down since July.
The violent looting sprees which emanated from protests against former president Jacob Zuma’s incarceration became the straw which broke the camel’s back for distraught business owner John Lopes. “I couldn’t go into work for the whole week because that area is just so stuffed up. It was horrendous, because people were going in and out of my building. They took everything of mine. My workshop, my office, my tool room. They stole all my tools and destroyed all of my machines. Now I am sitting with bills of R58 000 for water and lights, and I haven’t been there for three months.”
“I have had a meeting telling them that I am waiting for the insurance to phone me so I can let them know what’s going on. For the past months it’s been sitting at home… It’s put a damper on the way I treat my kids and my wife and its not their fault. There is a business of 25 years that going to take a lot to rebuild.”16 people have lost their jobs at Wingate Motors, including a married couple, Fred Nolan, 64 and Isabel Coetzee,50, who have worked at the establishment for decades.