Durban: The hunt for KwaZulu-Natal's trending blue San Pablo leather corner sofa, which was looted during the unrest, has ended and the owners of Leather Gallery are happy.
Speaking to POST this week Greg Parry, a co-owner at Leather Gallery, said they were grateful the high-end sofas were found.
Parry said the San Pablo was a premium quality leather corner couch that was crafted from full genuine leather. It is valued at R67 999.
“We are deeply grateful to everyone who has helped us get to this point. We are also overwhelmed with the positive response that we have received from our loyal customers and community about the whereabouts of some of the sofas that were looted.
The five-seater sofa was found by police in the Quarry Road West Informal Settlement on Sunday. It was abandoned.
Following the unrest in the province and the subsequent looting of the couch, an image of a man and a woman seated on the sofa in an informal settlement trended on social media.
The owners of Leather Gallery then encouraged communities to help them find the sofa.
According to sources, the police were conducting search operations in the settlement when the sofa, and other furniture and goods, were recovered.
On Tuesday, the POST visited the Sydenham SAPS and other than the blue sofa, police also recovered partial lounge sets that belonged to Leather Gallery. One was a High Point leather sofa suite valued at R79 999. It was also abandoned in the Quarry Road West informal settlement.
Parry said:“We were inundated with reports regarding our now famous blue San Pablo leather corner sofa. It has been incredible to see how everyone has rallied together for the greater good to try to help us get it back."
Parry went to the police station on Tuesday to view the blue sofa.
“It had clearly been pushed, pulled and dragged when it was looted from our showroom and then shoved on to the back of a bakkie, as seen in a video that was broadcast.
“Furthermore, it appeared that it was left outdoors for a few days and was in turn subjected to harsh elements, which severely degrades and damages genuine leather."
Parry said the sofa was dismembered, and while most parts were found, it was missing an armless piece.
“However, should we find the missing piece, we would love to try to restore the San Pablo back to its original glory. If we are able to achieve this, we would love to potentially display it in the magnificent showroom that will be part of our new flagship Leather Gallery warehouse that will open in Queen Nandi Drive in the coming weeks."
He said they were still in the process of trying to recover more of their furniture.
“The Sydenham SAPS still has a large amount of smaller home furniture and décor items that they recovered. We will return to sort through them, to see if any of our stock is among what was recovered."
The police did not comment at the time of publication.
The Post