The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) announced that it called off the taxi strike in Cape Town on Thursday.
While many welcome the news, businesses are still concerned about financial issues as a result of the strike and consequently, the violence.
For supermarket chain Spar, their Western Cape-based branches have been affected by the strike in several different ways, according to the divisional marketing director for the Western Cape and Namibia, Sean Komlosy.
“This includes the unavailability of taxis, violence experienced by bus operations, and the intimidation and threats of violence in many areas, which resulted in staff not being able to get to work.
“As a wholesaler and independent retailer committed to the communities in which we operate, and to running our business with strong family values, were very concerned for the safety of all our staff and asked those employees that were severely impacted to stay at home,” said Komlosy.
In addition to the lack of transportation, security threats, and incidents on some of the city’s roads, this meant fewer people on site at the company's distribution centre (DC) to receive deliveries, pick up orders and dispatch stock to stores.
This resulted in stock availability and replenishment issues at a few stores across a few product categories.
In certain regions, businesses have also had to lock their doors for extended periods of time each day to guarantee the safety of their employees and customers, resulting in missed trade hours for retailers.
“We did experience a natural reduction in footfall in certain areas when there were spikes in threats of violence and protest, as people prioritised their safety and that of their families and households over other basic needs.
“However, we are now experiencing heightened footfall as consumers stock up on essentials. Our retailer model has served us well, as it ensures that there is a Spar store in almost every neighbourhood across the country, so that at times like this our customers don’t need to travel far to find a Spar store,” Komlosy said.
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