Metro Cash and Carry (Metcash) is retrenching ”about 600” of its workers for the company to survive and save 9 500 other jobs, the company said on Tuesday.
”In order for the company to survive, we have to go through the process of retrenching,” said Carlos dos Santos, Metcash’s CEO.
”It’s unfortunate, but we have to do it to keep the company in business. We have been negotiating with the unions since November last year.
”It’s something that has been going on for nine months already,” he said, adding that seven Metcash directors were sacked over the past seven months during the ”right-sizing”.
Metcash, the largest distributor of fast-moving consumer goods in Africa, was forced to ”right-size” after it started losing market share, he said.
The company operates also in Botswana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Angola and Uganda and has a trading office in Hong Kong.
On Monday, about 4 000 members of the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) went on strike to protest the retrenchments.
A total of 650 workers across South Africa were given 30 minutes’ notice of retrenchment, said Amos Mothapo, the president of Saccawu.
The company initially wanted to retrench 939 employees due to financial problems, Mothapo said.
On Tuesday, Dos Santos replied: ”It’s not about money … but right-sizing. There are 9 500 jobs at risk.” — Sapa