End of an era for Drip Footwear as workers laid off

Local sneaker brand Drip Footwear employees are upset after they were dismissed this week following the liquidation of the company.

On 9 September, the High Court in Johannesburg ordered the liquidation after an application by Wideopen Platform which specialises in large, high impact advertising.

The order affects 14 stores in various malls across the country.

Employees dismissed after company liquidation

Attorney Kim Warren, who is representing Wideopen, said: “Wideopen owed R20 million for advertising services adding that it filed for liquidation in February and ‘he tried to oppose it in March but did not win’.”

Drip was founded by Lekau Sehoana, reported to have a net worth of R280 million in 2019.

ALSO READ: ‘We cannot sit back and watch Drip be liquidated’: MEC’s plea for sneaker brand amid tax woes

Sehoana informed his workers of the termination of their employment on Monday after months of unstable payment of their salaries.

The workers declined to be identified.

“He did not tell us what was actually happening.

Sehoana ‘did not tell us what was happening’

“It was sudden when last Wednesday we saw sheriffs we were told the store is being closed and staff should pack and leave,” one manager said.

“He had known for months about the [application to liquidate] and we were either getting short-paid or paid late.”

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In a letter to staff on Monday, Sehoana said: “Kindly note that the business has taken every measure to attempt and avoid the liquidation process. Unfortunately, this was an eventuality that could not be avoided notwithstanding the measures considered by the business.”

A second employee from another department said: “A meeting was only held last Wednesday to inform them about this liquidation but when you look at the paperwork this was filled early September and all along he was making us work as if there is a future for us there.”

Sehoana apologised to employees

Sehoana was sent text messages, e-mails and calls from The Citizen but ignored them.

Instead he called his employees after our requests for comment to apologise for the situation.