‘Ja‚ it’s a bit of a thing‚ but we will rebuild’‚ says victim who lost his home in devastating Knysna fires
The 40-year-old is one of thousands of Knysna residents who watched as their beautiful holiday town went up in flames.
Rademeyer and several others wondered aimlessly through the ruins as a dark blanket of smoke hung over the area on Thursday.
He had been living on Essendale farm for three years and in a matter of hours his home was no more.
"Ja‚ it’s a bit a of thing‚ but we will rebuild‚'' said Rademeyer who struggled to express himself.
It will take time. Neighbourhoods have turned into horror scenes from the pages of a post-apocalyptic novel.
Telephone lines have been cut‚ there are power outages‚ cellphone signals are patchy. People's faces tell a story of a hard night wrestling a fire that they might have underestimated or did not see coming. It sent families fleeing into the night to seek refuge at churches and yacht clubs.
Shane and Lesly-Ann Leech and their 12-year-old now call the angling club home. Lesly-Ann and her daughter were at home on Wednesday when a small fire threatened their home. Within a matter of minutes they managed to escape but not without the torture of watching it burn to the ground.