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BL Premium reports that Walmart is still backing its struggling SA subsidiary Massmart, owner of Makro and Game, after more than 30 of its stores were looted and a distribution centre near Durban was burnt down.
This was indicated in a letter to staff from CEO Mitchell Slape. In response to the riots and destruction of shops in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and parts of Gauteng, Slape has sent a letter to the company’s 45,000 employees every evening since Monday. The rioting and devastation of infrastructure in the two provinces has led to concern that foreign investors will exit the country or withdraw money from SA. But Walmart, which has provided senior executives, IT outsourcing services and more than R4bn in rolling loans to its SA company, remains firm in its support. On Wednesday, Slape told staff it was a “tough blow” when he found out that the company’s distribution centre near Durban had been set on fire. Massmart is already building a new distribution centre in KZN, which is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2021 and which will alleviate the pressure caused by the loss of the current centre. Slape encouraged employees by telling them that earlier this week a senior union official at a Massmart store and a regional union colleague helped secure the store. “My feeling is that this moment best represents the spirit of all our Massmart colleagues,” he said. Slape told staff he was “heartened” by messages of support from customers.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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