South African footwear manufacturer Bata South Africa has scooped a special award for the bravery and team effort that went into protecting its Loskop factory during the days of civil unrest and widespread looting that swept across the province in July 2021.
The award was presented by Bata Group CEO Sandeep Kataria at the global Bata Forum & Product Review conference held in November last year in Bangkok, Thailand. Over 100 employees from Bata’s global management teams were in attendance.
Bata South Africa country manager Michael Wyatt said the award honoured employees of Bata South Africa’s Loskop manufacturing plant, who were shining examples of the ‘One Team’ philosophy.
“After a Facebook post had come to our attention, calling for the factory to be targeted and burnt down during the unrest, the heroic actions of our Loskop factory staff entailed keeping guard in the dead of night, in negative-degree temperatures, to make sure the factory was not looted or destroyed. The destruction of the factory would have resulted in hundreds of jobs lost, and manufacturing capacity of millions of pairs of shoes destroyed,” he said.
During the week of unrest, more than 350 people died in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, 40,000 businesses were affected, 3000 stores were looted, 160+ malls were extensively damaged, and the total cost to the GDP was estimated at R50 billion.
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Bata South Africa’s Loskop factory is a mainstay of manufacturing and a key provider of income within this rural community.
It employs nearly 500 people, mostly women from the local community – sustaining thousands.
It’s also where Bata locally produces over four million shoes a year, representing more than 70% of its local stock, with the peak of production in June / July ahead of year-end orders.
“Our Loskop team, led by shop steward Londiwe Nsele, joined forces with the local community, chief and police, rallying together and camping outside for several days and nights in sub-zero temperatures to protect the Bata factory. Together, they helped us avoid costly asset damages, mass retrenchment, loss of skills and production capacity, and the possible shutdown of our major channels. This shows what the Bata factory really means to those in the community,” said Wyatt.
Hilda Gasa, a senior supervisor who has worked at the Bata Loskop factory for over 30 years, agreed. “Bata and the community are family,” she said.
Wyatt expressed his pride in the Loskop factory team. “While a simple ‘thank you’ could never be enough, I hope that this special award from Bata Global lets them know how much they are appreciated. They’re all ‘Bata Heroes’ and I’m very proud of everybody at Loskop.”
Earlier this year, Bata South Africa also presented ‘Bata Hero’ certificates of appreciation to those involved.
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