WATCH: Glen Marikana residents want cheaper food
The march was aimed at four of the country’s biggest food outlets
A price drop on basic, traditionally poor people food was among the demands that fueled a march by occupants of the Dann Road informal settlement, also known as Glen Marikana, on Monday morning.
The occupants were accompanied by EFF members and escorted by metro police and police members as they marched peacefully to various stores in the area.
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The march was aimed at four of the country’s biggest food outlets, Pick n Pay Glen Balad Mall, Checkers Glen Marais (Cavendish Glen Mall), Woolworths Woodbridge Square and Spar Glen Acres Shopping Centre.
Marchers were unable to gain entry to Glen Balad Mall next to the settlement, due to a court interdict obtained against them. Security at the mall was massive behind locked gates.
This was met with much dissatisfaction. Fikile Mafuyeka, acting treasurer for the EFF Ekurhuleni region, said: “We are not happy about the behaviour of the Pick n Pay people because we have applied for the march. We expect a working relationship between us because it is not a strike but a march and each individual who resides in the community, has a right to march.
“What disturbed me the most was the fact that there was a lot of security and lots of dogs. I don’t know who they think they are dealing with.”
The marchers’ first stop was at Glen Acres Shopping Centre. Before entering the parking area, marchers had been warned by ward 16 EFF branch chairperson, Isaac Mampana, not to damage vehicles on the premises.
The centre cordoned off an area for the marchers, as did Woodbridge Square and Cavendish Glen.
Mampana handed the memorandum to Andreas Stephanou, one of the managers at Spar, who said: “We will take the memorandum to our head office and leave it in their capable hands.”
At Woodbridge their memorandum was handed over to Brendan Osborn, division manager for Woolworths. Beaves van der Mescht, branch manager, received the memorandum on behalf of Checkers Glen Marais.
The Glen Marikana community has given the food outlets seven days to respond to their demands.
According to Mafuyeka the march went well.
“Though we couldn’t hand over the memorandum to Pick n Pay, the other three stores promised to deliver feedback within the agreed date.
“We are targeting the big four. Price fixing is a national crisis, not only in Glen Marais.”
Prior to the march, Mampana said: “It is our belief that basic commodities must have stable prices. It can’t be true that even though nature permits one harvest season in a year, prices of staple food such as sugar, cooking oil, maize meal and other daily foods keep on fluctuating every day of the month. All these foods are produced in South Africa, so currency can’t be sided as a factor.”
“We chose these stores as we believe they are a leading monopoly on the food market and are doing everything in their power to maximise their profits. They are only obsessed with outshining each other on what has turned into a game for them,” said Mampana.
The memorandum, inter alia, reads:
“The failure of Government and the competition commission to take decisive action on price fixing has left communities across the country at the mercy of big business,which continues to exploit them.
“This kind of action convinces us that Government and business are in partnership to rob the poor and share the spoils between them.
“To give an example, how did the chicken feet price come to level with traditionally luxury meat like beef steak and full chicken? 1kg chicken feet is currently priced at an average R90.
“How did the price of ofal escalate this March, selling at almost the same price as mutton per kilogram? Why is the price of sugar so high despite South Africa being the producers of sugar? Why has the price of mealie meal stay almost the same even after the previous year’s record harvests?
“We demand the following from the stores:
– Price drops on basic traditionally poor people food
– Indication on what influenced business to come to the current prices
– The previous financial year record on how much profit was made and how much was allocated to transformation of your store
– The stores’ BEE score card and BEE level
– Management and voting rights of the store top executives and directors (shareholders) and their ethnicity”
