Dozens of Khayelitsha residents protested outside Site C Plaza this week, demanding to be included in work and business opportunities with the main tenant, Shoprite. Community leaders said they want 70% of the retailer’s staff and the small businesses it contracts to be from Site C. This is not the first time that Site C residents raised the issues, according to Mthunzi Qhagana, the chairperson of Site C Business Forum.

“Some of the decisions were taken when Shoprite moved into the centre 15 years ago but we have been engaging with them for the past 8 years but they seem not to be keen on talking to us anymore. We are tired of being consumers. We want the community to also benefit from the existence of the company in our township,” Qhagana said.

Shoprite had a established a trust fund when the retail company started to trade in Site C but there is no transparency on the status of the fund or how it is administered. “The trust fund was meant to assist our children with school uniforms and also offer bursaries. It was also meant to assist when there are floods and shack-fire victims. Recently when there were floods, Shoprite, only sent soup and two slices of bread,” he said.

Qhagana complained that small businesses in Site C don’t benefit from the trade done by the biggest retailer in the area. Evergreen contracts signed by the supermarket when it opened 15 years ago prevent local SMMEs from providing security, cleaning and waste management services. Shoprite did in fact ask for the profiles of small companies, he said, but never responded to the ones sent, even though the companies met their criteria.

Allegations of exploitation

According to Qhagana the supermarket is understaffed. Cashiers are expected to be packers.

Another community leader and activist, Sibusiso Mdlankomo told Elitsha that the cleaners at the centre do not have personal protective equipment. “We have seen them working outside and they confirmed to us that they do not have PPE. They also told us that they are not registered for UIF,” Mdlankomo said.

Other tenants at the shopping centre, he said, exploit their employees, paying them ‘by envelope’ and giving them just 10-minute lunch breaks. Mdlankomo wants Shoprite as the property owner to ensure these small shopowners are responsible employers.

Voices of the community

Residents from Site C in Khayelitsha, Nosakhe Sigwela, Nolulamo Mqele and Nandipha Mantsha told Elitsha that most of the workers at the shop are not from Site C, and that Shoprite does little to improve the neighbourhood. “We know that most of the workers are not from Site C because there are about five taxis that pick up workers from the centre every day to take them home,” said Mantsha.

Community leaders accuse the retail company management of undermining local business development. “During the July [2021] unrest we would guard the centre to make sure that nothing happens to it. Shoprite undermines us. We have been engaging them for a while but they decided that they do not want to talk to us anymore. They referred us to a bot. How can they expect us to talk to a bot? We have been engaging them for about 8 years now,” said Qhagana.

Another community leader, Xolani Dywili said that they would not stop with the protest until their demands are met. “We won’t stop until they honour an agreement we made with them in March is met. They said we must submit all company profiles and that by the end of May they were going to consider them as the contracts with the current companies were coming to an end. But, they have not honoured that,” said the ward development chairperson.

Shoprite did not respond to the questions sent by Elitsha.