Wimpy may still go sunnyside down
It seems the restaurant might be toast after all.
IT seems Scottburgh’s iconic Wimpy is to be evicted after all.
“There has been no negotiation with Faurco Investments for the Pavilion lease to be granted,” Umdoni Municipality’s communication officer said this week.
At a council meeting held last Wednesday, the municipal manager denied that any negotiations had taken place between Wimpy owners and the municipality, let alone a deal being struck.
A petition already signed by about 3 500 people was basically ignored as it had not been handed over officially yet.
The Mid South Coast Mail was also rapped over the knuckles by Council Speaker Sykes Naidoo for daring to publish AfriForum’s claim that the matter had been resolved.
“You look silly for publishing something that is not true,” he said. He confirmed that Faurco was still to be evicted.
However, AfriForum’s Chris Fourie was adamant that there had been negotiations.
He approached the municipal manager and general manager, legal estates, during the tea break at the council meeting with copies of correspondence between Faurco and Umdoni’s lawyers.
The letters indicated that all would be resolved amicably should certain conditions be met by Faurco.
Faurco agreed to the conditions, but now seem to be caught up in a ‘chicken or egg’ situation:
• Famous Brands has agreed to renew their long term Wimpy franchise agreement, but only if Umdoni plays ball and renews the lease for the building;
• However,Umdoni says it will only grant the lease if Famous Brands renews the franchise agreement first.
AfriForum has hit out again, saying that the municipal manager is ‘misleading council in a public domain’.
It now appears that the matter will go back to the High Court.
The Mail tried to contact the municipal manager directly, but was told to deal with the communications officer.
The eviction notice was served on Faurco last month and they should have been out by June 1. It is now not clear when the notice will be enforced.
AfriForum’s celebratory free hamburgers are also on hold.
