Alex Chamber begins mall protests

Alexandra's Pan Africa Mall

Spokesperson of the chamber's youth wing, John Makgoka, said the body would embark on a protest this week to discourage consumers from shopping at the mall until it was “fully-owned” by locals.

“The people of Alexandra will fight for what belongs to them. We will cripple the tenants until they leave,” said Makgoka.

Makgoka said too few people from Alexandra had benefitted from the mall through employment and that it was “owned by people from outside”.

“Alexandra has many capable young businessmen and women who should be running businesses from the mall.

"Less than 15% of the staff at the mall are from Alex.

“People of Alexandra must also occupy more space as tenants.

"We will discourage residents from buying ... until this has been reversed.”

But the Greater Alexandra Development Forum (GADF) denied the chamber's allegations, saying the claims were “irresponsible” and “tantamount to thuggery”.

“We also want to reaffirm that over 1,000 job opportunities were created during the construction phase.

“Currently over 300 people have been employed by tenants at the mall, of which the majority are from Alex,” GADF said.

Source: Sowetan

Published courtesy of