The Visser family in Kimberley has been left shattered after their furniture manufacturing business, CV Houtwerke, was destroyed in a fire.
THE VISSER family in Kimberley has been left shattered after the entire CV Houtwerke, a furniture manufacturing business, was destroyed during a fire that broke out during the early hours on May 23.
It is believed that the fire broke out during a suspected burglary that went wrong.
The family revealed that furniture worth about R600,000 was destroyed, as well as material and office equipment along with the building.
The business was managed by the family, in which they all invested their hopes and dreams.
Two workers were employed in the company after it was established by Conrad Visser back in 2008.
The family said the business was not insured as the owner had to cancel the insurance in order to cover his medical costs.
The daughter of the owner, Nicolene Visser, said her brother also resigned from his job a few months ago in order to invest in the business and run it.
Family members said they are now left helpless and without any income or a solution.
She said she was the first one to be alerted about the fire, as the business is in the same street where they live.
“I alerted my family, but when we arrived the fire had already spread throughout the building.
“Even the firefighters had to wait for about 20 minutes before starting to extinguish the fire because it was uncontrollable,” she said.
“We don’t even know where to start the recovery process. We invested everything in the business to save it, including my brother when he left his job.
“The insurance was terminated due to the medical costs we had to pay after my father was diagnosed with cancer.
“My father had to undergo a compulsory hip replacement in the process,” she explained.
She said the incident has affected her father’s health negatively and has driven him into depression.
The family has requested support from members of the community to assist in re-establishing the business.
“We have to start from scratch. We also have to replace some of the customers’ orders. We need any kind of assistance or donations to restart our business from scratch.”
Anyone who is willing to assist the family is urged to contact Debbie at 082 320 5739.
