Video by Kamogelo Moichela
Johannesburg - The 2021 July unrest left businesses in distress, and some could not even return to their previous financial position because of a lack of funds and assistance.
Speaking to IOL, Freedom Supermarket Manager Siphiwe Ndlovu in Alexandra opposite Pan Africa Mall said they were badly affected by the looting because they had to close the supermarket for a period of four months, which led to 170 employees being home without any income.
"On top of that, the government promised workers that they will receive the funds for them to survive. Still today, none of our workers have received that money of which in the four months they could not pay rent and also take their children to school," he said.
Ndlovu said the community of Alexandra lost a lot during the unrest because, as the supermarket, they donated food and other items to créches, old age homes and even to the police station when they lack some items as well as clinics.
"We do it for our people and the community of Alex. Like I said, there are about 170 employees in the supermarket, with people depending on them for survival."
"We are a good and decent supermarket. We pay salaries more than what the government recommends for people to be paid. We pay more than the minimum wage," he mentioned.
According to Ndlovu, for them to recover and operate after the unrest, insurance gave their bosses money to fix and renovate the shop where damage was done, but they lost their warehouse because its structure was badly damaged, "so to rebuild it was going to cost a lot of money."
Regarding rebuilding the supermarket, the management also used their personal funds to help reopen the shop.
Moreover, he maintained that the management managed to take back all the employees after experiencing the unrest, "thanks to the management and insurance for backing us and the entire staff up even though our staff members are still waiting for the funds that were promised."
He said they are now 100 percent functional and operating even though they lost their warehouse ,so they cannot order a lot of items like they used to before because of lack of space.
For security and safety measures, he said they increased the security personnel because they can't risk another damage.
"We will be in a better position to protect ourselves in case the riots happen again. We also have a close relationship with the police so that they can assist us when experiencing threats," he said.