Residents of Kliptown have started lending a hand to one of their favourites businesses which was vandalised and looted last week.
One of the businesses is Grootman restaurant by Lucky Lekgwathi, former Orlando Pirates captain.
The mainly fast food outlet serving township fare such as kota and fish and chips, was attacked by looters who stole stock and machinery
But residents have now banded together in a show of solidarity to former Orlando Pirates captain and owner of the business, Lucky Lekgwathi, who lost nearly R700,000 worth of stock and machinery.
Takalani Siphuma, one of the residents and a big fan of Lekgwathi, said seeing him running a business in his neighbourhood brought a lot of joy.
Siphuma said Lekgwathi’s restaurant brought a new offering to the neighbourhood, which made the Kliptown residents embrace it.
“His restaurant is the only one owned by a black South African in our neighbourhood. He also employed people from our neighbourhood, which means a lot to us as residents. The level of unemployment in our area is extremely high. Since his arrival here, some of our residents have been able to put food on the table,” Siphuma said.
Siphuma has since mobilised other residents and they went to Lekgwathi’s restaurant to clean up the mess left behind by the looters.
“Our promise to him is that what happened will never happen again. When the looters arrived here, we were not around, hence they were able to do all the things they did. Lekgwathi is a good man. He also donated blankets to grannies in the neighbourhood, showing that he is really part of our township,” he said.
Lekgwathi told Sowetan that he started the business as part of his ventures following his retirement from soccer in 2016. His aim was to operate the restaurant as a franchise.
He used more than R400,000, which was part of the savings he made as a professional footballer. The restaurant hired eight people, seven of whom are from Kliptown.
“When I was still playing football, Orlando Pirates chairman Irvin Khoza advised me that a car is not an investment. He told me that property and business are investments; they are going to help me even after soccer. I then had a property. After that, the money I had saved I used to buy a butchery but it flopped. After that, I bought some shares at a mortuary and it also flopped.
“After that I met a nice guy who advised me to start my own brand, that is how the business was born,” Lekgwathi said.
He has since started rebuilding his business with the help of the community.
“People have asked me for my bank account number where they can make donations. Other people said they will come and clean for free as that is the best they can offer. Other people have offered to do plumbing for free while others have offered to fix the electric cabling that was damaged.
“People say when days are dark friends are few, but for me, days are dark but friends are many. It has showed me that people love me. Even one day when I take my last breath, it will be full at my funeral,” Lekgwathi said.
By Friday afternoon, about R10,000 had been donated by members of public to help Lekgwathi rebuild his business
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