14/06/2025
๐
๐ To the Persons Who Set That Fireโฆ
You didnโt just ignite a blaze in a dodgy tobacconist.
You lit a fire that burned through the heart of our small family-owned business โ Protea Delights.
You destroyed more than a shop. You took away years of love, sacrifice, late nights, and dreams.
You shattered something that was built by hand, brick by brick, over many long days and even longer nights.
This shop wasnโt just a business โ it was our family's livelihood. It paid our rent, clothed our children, funded their excursions.
It allowed us to support our elderly parents in South Africa, who have no pension, no safety net โ just us. After my father suffered life-threatening sepsis from prostate cancer surgery and was forced to retire early, our store kept them afloat.
But it didnโt stop there.
You didnโt just hurt us.
You crippled a whole community of honest, hardworking people.
We bought rusks from Krummel & Crumb. Koeksisters from Kerneels.
Vetkoek dough from a local pensioner. Samoosas from a small kitchen enterprise.
Tarts and fresh-baked treats from A Taste of Tooka.
Earrings from Inspired by Grace.
Pickled sauces from That Pickle Guy.
Boerewors and biltong from a family butcher who pours pride into every cut.
Numerous other small businesses from whom we buy all our goodies.
Your act of hate affected them all.
And what about our employees?
People who worked with passion and purpose. Who depended on their wages to feed their kids and pay their rent.
They now sit in limbo, with no work, through no fault of their own.
The tobacconist is already rebuilding โ multiple shops, deep pockets, questionable operations.
We, on the other hand, are left to scrape together the pieces.
Weโre looking for new premises at nearly triple the rent.
We're borrowing money at soaring interest rates.
We're facing sleepless nights, again.
And we are the ones who have to fund the fallout of your war.
So if youโre reading this โ Mr Arsonist โ
I hope you realise that you didnโt just attack one store.
You brought pain to a web of families, small businesses, and dreams that had nothing to do with your fight.
You burned more than wood and stock.
You burned people.
But we will rise โ because thatโs what small businesses do.
