Flora Centre Pick n Pay suffers Covid-19 scare
The store is expected to reopen as soon as staff have been screened and tested
Fear, frustration and animosity have been prominent side effects of the coronavirus pandemic, with all those emotions being symptoms of a confrontation at Flora Centre’s Pick n Pay.
The store was closed early on Tuesday afternoon, 2 June, after the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) had deemed the store not to be following the correct health and safety protocols. Disgruntled staff members, who claimed to have been in contact with a fellow staff member who tested positive for Covid-19, downed tools earlier in the day when management rejected their request to be screened and tested for possible infection.
“They said we must go to the private clinic and that we must pay for it ourselves,” said staff member Lindiwe Ntshele while waiting outside the shopping centre for the taxi to take her home. Lindiwe was part of the concerned group of staff members that laid the complaint with JMPD.
Led by Acting JMPD Chief Sipho Dlepu, officers responded to the complaint and had the store closed by 3.30pm that day.
“There was dissatisfaction among staff at the Pick n Pay store about [it] contravening Covid-19 procedures. JMPD received a complaint from disgruntled staff who were not tested after they had been in direct contact with a staff member who tested positive for Covid-19,” confirmed JMPD spokesperson, Wayne Minnaar.
The store is expected to reopen as soon as staff have been screened and tested.
“An agreement was reached with a union representative that staff would be tested before they could return to work. The store will be reopened on Wednesday 03 June, after the disgruntled workers have all been screened and tested,” confirmed Minnaar.
Store management was reluctant to comment on the situation, and referred all questions to head office.
Pick n Pay have yet to respond to questions on the incident, and any response will be shared as soon as it has been received.
