Reopening of Brookside Mall 'shows incredible resilience'

It was one of the buildings in KwaZulu-Natal that was razed to the ground during last year's July unrest. 

CEO of the Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business Melanie Veness says the mall reopening for trade is good news for the community.

"It's a huge reinvestment in Pietermaritzburg, which I have got to say shows an incredible amount of not only resilience but faith in the city and this community. It is very heartening to see having gone through what we have done through - one thing after another." 

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Veness says Brookside Mall's reopening comes with a new Checkers Hyper store.

"Checkers has chosen to build one of their very few FreshX stores in Pietermaritzburg. It is an exceptional store, state-of-the-art." 

About a month ago a 35-year-old former security guard appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court for his alleged role in the arson attack on the shopping centre. 

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Ndumiseni Zuma's apparently shared a video of himself calling for the destruction of the mall during the riots.