Committee chairperson wants govt intervention pending Massmart retrenchments
Urgent interventions are needed after Massmart announced retrenchments, says Mandla Rayi chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, Employment and Labour.
Rayi has called on the departments to take action pending retrenchments at Massmart.
On Monday, Massmart announced that it had started consultation processes to see 34 of its stores closed which will affect 1440 jobs.
The retail giant owns brands including Dion-Wired, Game, Makro, Builders Warehouse, and Jumbo.
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Rayi says the job losses will be catastrophic for the affected individuals and their families.
"We are not folding our arms, as soon as we heard of this situation the we will be followed by government accounting to the committee in terms of what it is that they have done in terms of their intervention. So it is a concern for us because more than 1000 workers will be affected".
“It is not ideal to have government interfere in business, but the severity of the pending retrenchments necessitates that there must be a collaboration of minds. It is critical that the planned retrenchments be suspended until a meeting with government departments has happened, and all the avenues have been explored to avoid the retrenchments".
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“Such an action, no matter the amount of consultation, will frustrate government’s objectives of creating over a million job opportunities. It is the view of the committee that SA is still friendly to business, and foreign investments and opportunities are there for business to exploit,” he said.
