Pride of Lions River

The story goes that the lion of the town of Lions River was the last of its kind to roam that region of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. It was shot in 1856. “After that, shooting of wildlife was prohibited here,” says Hassan Thokan, whose forefathers set up shop near the river more than a century ago.

Continuing the family tradition, Hassan owns Thokans Cash Store and Fuel Station that’s as much an icon of Lions River as is that eponymous lion. A pukka trading store, Thokans has occupied a site flanking the main Durban to Johannesburg railway line for nearly seven decades. Previously, the family traded across the road in the now empty corrugated iron structure built on land that author Alan Paton’s grandfather sold to them following the flooding of their riverside store.

“Mr Paton said the community didn’t need a flooded store; it needed a proper one,” says camera-shy Hassan. The