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NHLANGANO SPAR ALLEGEDLY LOSING 30 PER CENT REVENUE

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MBABANE – Nhlangano Spar is allegedly losing 30 per cent of their revenue due to the stoppage of production in their Confectionary Department.


In their affidavit which has been filed in court, the supermarket is attributing the Nhlangano Town Council of preventing/stopping fuel trucks from accessing and delivering to their fuel tanks.


The fuel according to Nhlangano’s Spar General Manager Philemon Tsabedze is used to heat up the bakery ovens.
In their certification of urgency, the supermarket stated that in addition to contributing 30 per cent of their revenue, the bakery department was also a customer puller such that if customers came to the shop and did not find the bread and other related products, the shop could literally shut down in no time.


Tsabedze said Nhlangano Spar was one of the major retail outlets at the Nhlangano Mall and had been operating in the area in question for about 18 years.
He also claimed that the supermarket employed 65 people and if they were to shut down, there would be serious repercussions to the business and its employees.


Space


“On establishment and in pursuit of its lawful; business objectives, the applicant(Nhlangano Spar) created space adjacent or near its business premises for fuel/paraffin tanks.
“It cannot be in dispute that for health and safety reasons, these paraffin tanks have to be within an acceptable distance away from the main shop operated by the applicant,” he said.


He said the supermarket had been operating and using the paraffin tanks for about 18 years.
Tsabedze alleged that on August 22, 2018, acting without a court order, the respondent (Nhlangano Town Council) had wrongfully, unlawfully and with threats of violence, prevented fuel trucks from accessing and delivering fuel to their fuel/paraffin tanks.
He alleged that the town council and its employees stated that the trucks were damaging the green grass that had been recently planted in the pathway leading to the tanks.


Given


He said the supermarket had not been given an alternative route or pathway or plan of re-filling the tanks.
Tsabedze further alleged that the town council did not engage them in any form of consultation in taking a decision to create a pavement and subsequently planting grass on the pathway leading to the tanks.
These allegations are contained in court papers whose veracity is yet to be tested in court.
“By turning the fuel truck away, the respondent has caused serious financial prejudice and harm, to the applicant’s business operations as it will now be faced with a serious drop in revenue,” Tsabedze stated.
Large
He also alleged that the town council sent a large number of its employees as well as its security personnel and threatened the truck driver with violence if the truck drove on top of the green grass.
He also claimed to have been physically present when the altercation took place.
The supermarket is praying for an order to be granted peaceful and undisturbed possession of the space and pathway leading to the fuel tanks.
They also want the court to issue an order directing that the town council conduct of preventing the fuel trucks from accessing and delivering fuel to their tanks is wrongful and unlawful.

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