But George Senosha, who no longer has an income, says he isn't going down without a fight.
He was Pick n Pay's prized first black franchisee, who introduced the retailer to a sceptical township market in the 1990s, helped to train other emerging franchisees and, at one time, processed millions of rands monthly through the tills of his vibrant store in Soshanguve.
He brushed shoulders with presidents, was deeply invested in his community and became an icon of black retail success. Then, when construction delays at the nearby railway station started throttling business, he reached out to the retailer for relief.
Had it moved quicker to buy the store, he alleges, and not dragged out the process for a year, which caused him to rack up further debt, life would be very different today. Now, with nothing left to lose, George Senosha is calling on township customers to boycott Pick n Pay's Boxer stores because of the way it has treated black franchisees.
He says Boxer's success is all owing to the labour of black-owned franchisees like him in townships. Acquired in 2002 by PnP, Boxer is one of the flagging retailer's prized assets, boasting 295 superstores, 150 liquor stores and 31 Build stores across South Africa and Eswatini. A listing on the JSE is imminent.
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