Scores of theology students, Grade 12 learners and youths from around Malamulele were hard hit when the centre they used for a variety of purposes was reduced to ashes on Sunday.
The Harvesters Theological Seminary, formerly known as Harvest Bible College, at Xithlelani Village in Malamulele, which trains pastors from churches around the area, caught fire at around 13:00 on Sunday. The impact of the fire that caused damage close to R2 million was so severe that the building and some of the contents were completely destroyed.
The billowing smoke could be seen many kilometres away. The fire started in the kitchen which, ironically, was not being used. At this stage the cause of the fire has not been established. but an electrical fault is suspected to have started the fire.
Resident pastor and principal of the school Dennis Soares said he was in church when he received a call informing him about the fire. "I had to rush and leave the service before it could end and go to the school. Police and firefighters were already there, trying to douse the flames, but they ran out of water. We had to watch helplessly as the mighty flames consumed our school."
He said that it was a big loss, not only for the theology students, but the community as a whole. "We have Grade 12 learners who come here to upgrade their results and youths use this building for their camps," he said.
Soares indicated that the college, which opened its doors in 1991, cost a lot of money to build and that it would be a mammoth task to rebuild it. "As a non-profit-making institution we do not know how we will overcome this, but we are going to sit down with the board and seek ways on how we can move forward," he said.
College board member Sophie Chabalala described the loss as a blow to the whole community. "We had a library here with many books. but have the Lord to thank that we managed to rescue most of the books. We have a big worry now about the students and learners who utilised this facility. We don't know what will become of them," she said.
* More information regarding the incident read here