Shoprite 'doing its bit'

Shoprite group CEO Whitey Basson wants to see South African companies creating jobs.

Boasting about the more than 9200 people the retailer employed in the year to the end of June, Basson threw down the gauntlet to other business leaders.

"All companies listed on the JSE should announce how many jobs they are creating," he said. "We will probably create in excess of 8000 in the next year."

The company already employs nearly 112000 people in 16 African countries. But Basson's comments were made in the wake of government criticism that the South African economy is focusing too much on consumption.

Both Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies and Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba have been waxing lyrical in recent months about plans to "reindustrialise" the economy.

And though job creation is a priority, consumption fuelled by short-term credit has been the bane of policy-makers. Unsecured lending has been blasted by analysts and ministers alike. Shoprite's latest results reflect this, showing a slowdown in sales in the last six months of the financial year.

Unsecured lending, such as that offered by African Bank, has reined in credit growth over the same period.

Aubrey Karp, head of Shopright's furniture division, yesterday described last year as the toughest in the past decade.

"Over-extension of short-term credit has affected consumers' disposable income," he said.

And feeble economic growth put further pressure on sales.

"I expect the low-growth environment to continue until the end of 2015," said Karp.

The furniture division was the worst performing in the Shoprite group, with sales growth of only 4.7%.

The group as a whole increased its turnover by 12.1% to R92.7-billion and its trading profit by more than 15% to R5.4-billion. Red tape was standing in the way of getting more people employed, Basson said.

He had few kind words for the talkshops that business leaders indulged in with the government.

"We cannot carry on with all these meetings and then things fall flat," he said.