Pick n Pay Investigates Centurion Franchise Branch Closed for Noncompliance

• Retail giant Pick n Pay has launched an investigation into the Centurion franchise outlet that the City of Tshwane closed for noncompliance
• The city's mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya, was present when the municipality raided the store and found that it violated health and safety standards
• Pick n Pay slammed the store and said its conduct was unacceptable, and said the branch will be investigated

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated b current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and immigration in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

PRETORIA — Pick n Pay confirmed that an investigation into the Blu Valley Centre Pick n Pay outlet has been launched after the City of Tshwane shut it down on 22 February 2025 during a raid.

What happened at Blu Valley Centre?

Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya posted videos of the raid on her @nasiphim X account. According to Moya, three cockroaches were found in the baking section of the store. Moya said that the raid was the result of the promise the city made that they would also target large businesses.

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The raids were part of Tshwane's campaign where they targeted the Blu Valley shopping centre for compliance. Moya also said the store improperly stored fresh produce, kept meat at inappropriate temperatures and cooked food in pots without lids. In the video, she showed the extent of the filth in the shop.

"The hygiene requirements have been neglected. We are closing own this establishment, and we are revoking their licence."

View the X video here:

What did Pick n Pay say?

According to TimesLIVE, Pick n Pay confirmed that they are aware of the incident and said they will investigate the store. Management was on the ground 30 minutes after they were informed and launched a full audit.

"What was seen was completely unacceptable. This falls very far from what we expect from our franchisees and store managers," said Pick n Pay.

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Non-compliance an issue

South Africa has been battling with non-compliance from spaza shops and established retail outlets. As a result, the government has embarked on campaigns since 2024 where they raided restaurants and outlets unannounced to crack down on non-compliance.

The need to conduct compliance raids was more pronounced after dozens of children died allegedly from eating food purchased at spaza shops, many of which were found to be non-compliant.

About Pick n Pay, Africa's retail giant

Pick n Pay Group Ltd. is a South African retailer that operates three brands – Pick n Pay, Boxer and TM Supermarkets stores in Zimbabwe.

In 1967, the late South African businessman Raymond Ackerman purchased the first four Pick n Pay stores in Cape Town.

Since then, the group has expanded beyond South Africa's borders, into southern Africa, namely into Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Eswatini and Lesotho.

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As of 2023, the company employed 90,000 people across 2,204 locations, including 144 outside SA, among eight African countries.

Between 12 February and 25 August 2024, Pick n Pay closed 53 stores as part of a turnaround plan to improve its bottom line.

This has also been due to notably underperforming stores, brought on by demographic changes or shopping centre issues.

In January 2025, a further 32 stores were closed, with the business converting five company-owned stores to franchises. Other stores were converted to the Boxer brand.

Meanwhile, rolling back on its Ekuseni strategy — a long-term plan formulated to grow the business and improve customer service — Pick n Pay has changed some Qualisave stores back to Pick n Pay stores.

Shoprite and Checkers have in some cases taken over the vacated retail space.

SA dealing with non-compliance

• The South African Police Service and the KwaZulu-Natal government raided two warehouses in Durban on 20 November 2024 and uncovered expired goods
• During the raids the government launched following the deaths of scores of children from food bought at spaza shops, President Cyril Ranmaphosa announced in Parliament on 29 November that more than 1000 spaza shops were shut down
• The City of Tshwane fined spaza shops over R63,000 in 2023 for non-compliance with municipal bylaws

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National Consumer Commission conducted inspections

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the National Consumer Commission conducted nationwide raids in June 2024 after discovering spaza shops were not complying with the law.

The Commission targeted suppliers of fast-moving goods and aimed at uncovering compliance in big and small retailers. They discovered that there was non-compliance in establishments selling food that past its sell-by dates.

Source: Briefly News