Fri Aug 14 09:08:00 UTC 2020
Supermarket workers have been the unsung heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic since day one, and this prompted True Love magazine to celebrate the Shoprite Group’s fearless frontline workers for their selfless service.
No less than two thirds of the Group’s 147 000-strong workforce are women, which means that from friendly cashiers to warehouse workers, the face of those working around the clock to ensure that South Africans continue to have access to food and other household essentials, remains female.
Nelly Maithulela, the admin manager at Shoprite Mini Louis Botha in Orange Grove, told True Love that her cashiers’ health remains her number one priority as their safety ensures the safety of customers: “Protective gear as well as demarcation tape for social distancing makes my job in enforcing these new regulations much easier.”
Salome Makgamatha’s big smile graces the magazine’s special ‘second’ cover. She is a groceries controller at Checkers Hyper in Sandton and praises the Group for the way it treated its employees as the crisis continued. “A month after the pandemic hit our shores, we were rewarded with R700 bonuses. The company also looks after employees who tested positive with the virus, even when they are at home.”
According to Noluthando Zulu, a Money Market clerk at Usave Wolhuter, her job helps to harness her people’s skills as she encounters individuals from different backgrounds on a daily basis. “We have continued to provide important services to our customers, especially as many have needed to urgently send or receive money during these tough times.”
Mpho Mailula, a shelf packer at Checkers Blubird Melrose, enjoys working because it enables her to provide for her family. “Many things make me love my job, but the most important one is that it puts food on the table for my family as I am the breadwinner.”
Read these women’s inspirational stories in the September 2020 issue of True Love, which is available on magazine shelves from today (14 August 2020).