The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
DISGRUNTLED workers of one of Bulawayo’s oldest supermarkets, Haddon and Sly have for the past three days held a demonstration outside the supermarket after the shop’s management closed shop under unclear circumstances.
The shop which was now a pale shadow of its former self has for the past months been characterised by empty shelves and refrigerators with workers accusing management of failing to pay suppliers who in turn had stopped supplying the shop with stock.
Last Friday, the supermarket eventually closed shop with management reportedly telling workers not to report for work.
This directive saw the fired workers embarking on a mini-demonstration outside the supermarket from Friday afternoon demanding their dues and accusing management of running down the supermarket.
The workers claim they had gone for two months without getting their salaries.
On Sunday some of the workers disbanded at 11pm vowing to return to the shop on a daily basis until the shop’s management pay them what was due to them.
“They first told us to do a stock take on Thursday, then we were told that on Monday we must not report for work because they want to start doing renovations for the next two months. We were also told that we would not be paid during that period. What angered us is that there was no written document to support this, it was just done through word of mouth,” said one woman who refused to be named for fear of victimization.
She went on: “The Company has not been banking money for a long time, we calculated that close to $130 000 has been taken by the bosses to Harare. We get paid $200 and we do not even get it as they say the company has no money. We were made to cut our working month by two weeks, so we were now doing shifts but still they continued not to pay us”.
The workers further alleged that the company was not remitting their medical aid contributions despite deducting the amounts from their salaries monthly.
They have also accused supermarket’s manager, a Ms Catherine Mudura of having a hand in the collapsing of the shop, through questionable managerial decisions.
Harare businessman, Mr Deans Chibhanguza who is at the helm of the once vibrant supermarket however denied these allegations.
He said they were not closing shop but were embarking on key renovations that will take two months to complete.
“We are not closing shop permanently; we are closing to do renovations for a few months because we want to be relevant with the current trends. We have competitors around us and we want to ensure that we meet the current trends and technologies in the industry.
“It is therefore necessary to close for a while, further when we reopen, it will be in time for the festive season. Our customers need to see an improved setting and enjoy a good shopping experience when we reopen,” he said.
He called on the striking workers not to panic as the shop would reopen in the near future.
“We have secured funding to the tune of $500 000, this funding needs to also match its surroundings, so we want to ensure that people have a different feel of the shop. We will also have a variety of new products when we open that will attract new customers,” said Mr Chibhanguza.
He said the funds will also be used to pay service providers and their suppliers they owe.
