Hammarsdale cold storage looted and set alight as hundreds clean up on Mandela Day

While there was a marked decrease in looting incidents in KwaZulu-Natal, there were several sporadic incidents on Sunday, including the Sequence Logistics warehouse in Hammarsdale outside Pietermaritzburg being looted again. 

Ntuthuko Mathe from the eThekwini fire department told eNCA looters plundered the warehouse on Monday and set fire to the building on Tuesday. 

He said while they tried to intervene, they had to retreat as the looters became destructive and overwhelmed the team who were in danger.

On Sunday, dozens of people descended on the building, stealing meat and other goods.

The looting incident comes on Mandela Day on which hundreds of people responded to calls to clean up shops, malls and areas destroyed by vandalism and fires during the week.

In Chatsworth, hundreds of people gathered at The Ridge shopping complex where shops were damaged. 

Volunteers also gathered at the Victoria Street Market and Berea Centre to help mopping-up operations. 

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