This, after the company on Tuesday released a statement to officially announce its departure from the area and blamed the Ditsobotla Local Municipality for its failure to maintain infrastructure, and to deal with water and power shedding over the past few years. 

Employees, who spoke to OFM News on the basis of anonymity, said the closure of one of the biggest companies and employers in the area will have dire consequences in their lives, for their families, including the community. They say the company has, however, given them options to relocate with the company to Queensburgh in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. Should they not relocate, they might lose their jobs in terms of the Labour Relations Act. They say over 330 employers stand to lose their jobs and confirm that some of the employees have already left whilst others are yet to decide whether to relocate or not.

According to these employees, three units have already relocated. “We are not taking it well because even relocating will be difficult for some of us. They said to us if we do not want to relocate to other branches, we will be retrenched so it’s causing a problem because they are not willing to increase our salaries," they add. They say they were informed in 2020 by their employer that the company will be closing its operations in that area.

The company on Tuesday released a statement on the closure of its operations in that area. “Ongoing poor service delivery is the main reason for Clover’s decision to move its cheese production from Lichtenburg to Queensburgh, Durban. Clover already has operations in Queensburgh and the eThekwini Municipality has proven to be supportive,” the company says.

Clover adds that it has been experiencing water and power outages and the surrounding infrastructure has not been maintained by the municipality for years. “Despite numerous efforts to engage the municipality on these matters, the issues have not been resolved.

This has negatively impacted production, which requires a continuous process and it is no longer feasible for the business to operate in Lichtenburg,” Clover adds.

OFM News