Bulawayo's oldest hotel faces closure

One of Bulawayo's oldest hotels, Waverley Hotel, faces closures as it is facing a serious financial crisis resulting in mounting debts.

The hotel, which owes local and national authorities huge sums of money and has a backlog with employees' salaries, no longer takes overnight bookings.

The managing director Edmund Muzamba confirmed that the hotel owed the Bulawayo City Council about $20,000, Zesa $10,000, Zimra $10,000 and the National Employment Council $7,000. He said workers were owed about $15,000 in unpaid salaries.

Muzamba said the hotel might be forced to close down due to the debts, adding that other directors wanted to turn it into just a bar.

These arrears date back to about two or three years while workers were last paid in October 2013.

The workers revealed that since the beginning of the year, only the restaurant and bar have been operating. "Since January 1, 2014, the hotel's night club and overnight bookings were shut down," said one of the workers.

The workers said the two departments that were closed were the money spinners for the hotel. Only short time bookings, known as rest, were being accepted.

"The illegal rest bookings are in full operation but the two departments which brought in money were shut down, which then leaves the question that how do they intend to meet their debts," said a worker.

The workers said their employers took them for granted in particular long serving employees who were not given packages when they retired. "Unlike other companies, Waverley Hotel has no bereavement fund for families of a deceased worker, employees go on unpaid leave and there are no packages for long serving employees when they retire," said another worker.

Workers also revealed that in spite of the fact that they are not paid, they were expected to pay double for any shortfalls they made. For example if a worker has a $10 shortfall, they pay $20, they also pay $5 fines for mistakes like leaving the lights on.

The co-owner of the hotel David Kontemeniotis said they had payment plans to settle their debts. "It is true to some extent that we are battling financially and we are behind in salaries, but we have payment plans with the authorities and we are still working on the salaries," he said.

He, however, said he was not co-owner as claimed by workers but an accountant.

"I and my grandmother are not the owners of the hotel, all the shares were transferred to Edmund Mzamba, and I am just an accountant there," he said.

However,  Muzamba denied being the sole owner of the hotel.

"It is not true that I am the sole owner of the hotel. The shareholders consist of Estelle Scheijde, David Kontemeniotis, her 18-year-old grandson and Edmund Mzamba the managing director. These three are the shareholders, with 34 percent, 33 percent and 33 percent respectively," said Muzamba.

He said David was the one who ran the place on behalf of his grandmother who was in France. "David is the one who runs the place with orders from his grandmother in France," he said.