Secunda becomes the destination in a dire flight for food

Many residents were glued to social media and news channels to follow the protesting and looting in the country last week, especially in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Some areas have been so badly affected by the looting and burning down of stores, that a crew had flown out from Virginia Airport to Secunda to come and get some much-needed food supplies.

Dr Johan Blignaut, a resident La Lucia Estate in KZN, spoke to the Ridge Times about the ordeal and the struggle to get food.

Dr Blignaut said although the area where he lives was less affected, towns to the south and west (inland areas) experienced looting and severe damage.

He explained how residents had to barricaded roads to prevent protestors and looters from entering their areas.

“Residents blocked everyone from coming into our area, but as a consequence, our shops had been closed,” said Dr Blignaut.

“For four days we had no access to shops, petrol stations or pharmacies. You can only go so far with the little food supply one has at home.

“We needed security, we also very quickly realised we needed food security,” said Dr Blignaut.

At the La Lucia Estate’s board meeting a plan was made to fly in much-needed food supplies.

“I contacted pilot Dewald Potgieter and chartered a plane from Virginia Airport. It was easier to fly to Secunda as he has family residing there. It was the quickest and easiest solution to use Secunda,” said Dr Blignaut.

It took them two hours in a small aeroplane to Secunda and once they landed on July 15, they rushed to the stores that already had their stock ready for pick-up in Evander and Secunda.

“We bought about 200kg of groceries – it was the bare essentials. We loaded the aircraft and made our way back to KZN by the afternoon,” said Dr Blignaut.

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He said that Virginia Airport was a hive of activity as many people also used this means to collect food resources.

“Planes were taking off every five minutes from Virginia Airport,” said Dr Blignaut.

Dr Blignaut said by Friday, July 16, things began to normalise to some degree with a few shops reopening.

“Most of our stores are empty because people have gone into this panic-buy mode,” said Dr Blignaut.

He was part of a group that drove out in a heavily armed convoy on the N3 up to Howick outside Pietermaritzburg and then drove from farm to farm to try and source whatever they could.

“We managed to get potatoes straight from the ground and we bought milk from a dairy store. It was quite an eye-opening experience for us,” said Dr Blignaut.

He took the Ridge Times back to when it all began. He explained how the weekend was perfectly fine and by Monday morning it was as if a match had been lit that set the entire city alight.

“It was chaotic. Reports of looting and the city being on fire came in fast.”

Dr Blignaut explained how residents retreated to their homes to protect their homes and families. He said the aftermath of the week-long ordeal united many citizens not only in KZN but throughout the country.

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“This was the most unbelievable thing that came out of this whole crisis. White, Indian and black stood shoulder to shoulder protecting their families, supermarkets, petrol stations and houses.

“The people were not about protecting just their own homes, everyone got together, everybody was communicating. We had little to no protection from our police and army. It was up to citizens looking after themselves,” said Dr Blignaut.

He said apps such as Zello and WhatsApp groups kept residents in the loop of what was happening in their areas. He believes that KZN will recover quickly from this.

“Clean-up operations began immediately. I don’t foresee this taking too long.

“Like people have come together to protect themselves, businesses have also come together quickly to get food and stock back into KZN.

“At the end of the day, the good guys won because we stood strong,” said Dr Blignaut.