By Nomalungelo Booi
Shoprite had to close its doors on Monday as the EFF marched to the Greenacres store to hand over a memorandum of demands to mark Workers’ Day.
The contingent of Red Berets, led by EFF MP Natasha Ntlangwini, marched from Parsons Hill to demand minimum wage for Shoprite employees and that management take on contract workers on a permanent basis.
Ntlangwini, the central command team commissar, said they had embarked on the protest action because the store had dragged its feet in addressing the issues the party had been raising on behalf of its employees.
“We have been getting many issues about Shoprite at our labour desk and we have decided to come here and picket for three demands from the various [employees] we have here,” Ntlangwini said.
In the memorandum received by Shoprite human resources regional manager Brentin George, the party demanded that:
The supermarket permanently employs all contract workers who have been in its employ for more than three months;There be more transformation in management; andA trust fund be set up to benefit the communities the chain store operates in.
Ntlangwini expressed dismay at the police contingent, which had a chopper flying overhead at one stage, and the decision by the store to close ahead of the picket action.
“The tellers will be the ones affected by this decision today [Monday], the managers will get their salaries,” she said.
There was also displeasure from the gathered crowd when George said he could not address their demands.
“Unfortunately, I cannot respond to the concerns raised here today. I am not in a position to respond and I have no comment,” George said.
Ntlangwini said it was unacceptable that the supermarket did not delegate the right authority to address them.
She said they expected their demands to be addressed within 14 days.
“If not, we will mobilise and be here again. They must go ask Clicks if they think we are incapable,” she said.
Ntlangwini was accompanied by EFF regional chair Khanya Ngqisha, along with Mkhuseli Ndlevu from the organisation’s provincial structure.
Meanwhile, provincial DA leader Nqaba Bhanga was at Njoli Square in New Brighton to hear the concerns of informal traders on the public holiday.
Bhanga said the DA was ready to govern and fulfil the promises it made when the party was in local government.
“We are going to build the Njoli complex. The reason it is taking time is that there are people who are not yet ready to move [from where it will be built].”
The former Bay mayor said it was a fundamental pillar of the organisation to support small businesses and that it was the only way to address unemployment.
“For us to solve unemployment we must build capacity for small business owners so that they can employ people.
“It is not the government that creates opportunities, but business owners,” Bhanga said.
But for 70-year-old Majili Fayi, a vendor who has been trading near the complex since 1983, the promises are taking too long.
“To date, not a single promise has been fulfilled; instead, business is getting harder,” she said.
Sbenga Fast Food owner Malizole Screech, who was also visited by Bhanga, said real change for small business owners would only happen when those in charge made an effort to understand the challenges of small entrepreneurs.
“One of the biggest challenges we have is because we never seem to know what is needed from us to get funding from the government,” he said.
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