Golden Grill outlets ordered to close over indigenisation law

Scores of Golden Grill Fast Foods outlets workers in Bulawayo Friday arrived at work to find their workplace under lock and key after National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB) officials closed the shop for flouting a section of the indigenisation law.

All three outlets of the fast foods store, one of the most popular and fast growing in Bulawayo, owned by one Paul Evans, had a notice from the Reserved Sector Compliance Status Notice indicating the company had been closed for "non-compliance" of the county's indigenisation laws.

Restuarants, grocery shops and hair saloons are among other sectors that have been reserved for locals under the country's Indegenisation law and all foreign businesspeople in that sector were given up to January 1 2014 to comply.

"We found this place locked in the morning, they must have done it last night because there was no one when we arrived," said a vendor who sells airtime recharge cards outside one of the
outlets at the corner of Fort Street and 11th Avenue. The interior of the shop showed signs of people having left in a hurry with some items just lying on the counters.

Similar notices from NIEEB were placed on the entrances of the other branches at Jason Moyo Street and 10th Avenue, as well as one at the corner of 9th Avenue and Hebert Chitepo Street.

The notice, signed by NIEEB officer, Linda Dube recommended that Evans, who runs the outlets, complies with the board's requirements which are to partner with a local businessperson of his choice.

Although he was not available for comment, Evans employs dozens of workers on different shifts at the outlets, strategically positioned in the central business district of Bulawayo.

The closure of Golden Grill Fast Foods comes at a time when thousands of workers in Zimbabwe's second largest city were left jobless, following the closure or migration of industries from what used to be the country's industrial hub.