By Kelvin Kasiwulaya
Retail Giant, Choppies has set the record straight on its recent eviction from one of it’s rented Supermarkets in Gweru.
The retail outlet has noted that the eviction was abrupt and without notice from their landlord.
Choppies had all it’s products thrown out of it’s CBD branch on Friday 21 July 2023, forcing them to ferry all their products to Mkoba Shopping Center where they have another branch.
“They just came in the morning and closed the doors, and one of them brought out a paper saying you were given 48 hours to evacuate from the shop, while we were trying to read their documents,
“When we tried to report the matter to the police, the police said they could not intrude when the Sheriff of the High Court is doing his job. They started to break everything including 5 Cold rooms which cost a lot of money,
“We had a lease with Mr Simbi , which stretched to 2025 but we just heard that building was sold on the day of eviction, ”said Ncube.
Adding on , Ncube said most of the products were damaged in the process such as detergents and these ended up mixing with different detergent products making them hazardous substances.
“A lot of products were destroyed; floor was mixed with surf and domestos making them extremely poisonous and harmful,” he added.
Workers who were affected by the eviction told Connect Stories that, their jobs are hanging in the balance, with only one option left, that is to be relocated to other Choppies branches dotted around Zimbabwe.
construction of flea market cubicles has already began at Choppies
“Our jobs are hanging in the balance ,the CBD branch provided employment for over 60 individuals, we just hope and pray that we all get the opportunity to get back to work by being relocated to other branches with labor shortfalls,” said, Sithembile Chikumba a former Till Operator at Choppies CBD branch
Another employee said their life was now uncertain, even if they are relocated to other branches, they would still face a lot of challenges including language barriers if posted to Matebeleland and that meant their children would have to transfer from their schools.
Bright Maramba, Choppies Gokwe Branch Manager said the way the eviction was done was so heartless and inconsiderate.
“The way we were evicted was ruthless and inconsiderate, all perishables were thrown outside we lost a lot of products, our cold rooms worth thousands of dollars were destroyed, the evictors were ruthless at least they should have allowed us to move our products in an orderly way ,
“We have lost a lot of products, our documentation system was destroyed, we no longer have records of our operations, all was destroyed during eviction. If it was not for the tenacity of our workforce and security detail all our products would have been looted by members of the public,” said Maramba
The Choppies CBD supermarket building was sold to Africa Flea Market Pvt Ltd, by the owner who had leased the building to Choppies for a period extending to 2025.