The chair of SA’s second-largest retailer, Gareth Ackerman, is concerned about the slow pace of the vaccine rollout in the country.
The longer it takes, the longer South Africans remain unprotected from the virus, and the greater the risk of a third wave, and the possibility of new virus variants emerging, he says.
SA has not yet started to vaccinate the general population, though people over the age of 60 years have been able to register via the internet on an electronic database for a vaccine.
SA decided not to use its 1-million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to a small study that suggests it will not be effective against mild disease in the variant first discovered in SA and that is the main-driver of second-wave infections.
The government and the Treasury also faced lengthy negotiations with J&J and Pfizer vaccine suppliers who had onerous and costly conditions on contracts, ensuring the drug companies did not face liability from side-effects sustained by people who are vaccinated, but instead pushing the costs onto the state.
Many business people have called for more transparency over the rollout.
Speaking at the retailer’s annual results, Ackerman said: “The government needs to communicate clearly and frequently to keep citizens informed and trusting the process.”
Pick n Pay, which has a distribution network of almost 1,900 stores in SA, has joined companies such as Distell in offering support to the government, “to do whatever we can to assist in the efficient distribution of the vaccine when it becomes available”.
The distribution of the vaccine has been put out to tender.
Ackerman said the government has to be more transparent about the vaccine rollout and its response to Covid-19.
He criticised the decision over Easter to ban alcohol sales for four days and called for more transparency behind the decision-making process. Ackerman has been outspoken about the alcohol ban, especially when it stopped consumers buying liquor at retail stores, but allowed them to visit crowded restaurants or shebeens to drink.
“Quite how allowing people to drink at bars, restaurants and taverns was somehow safer than having a glass of wine at home was never made clear.”
He called for “decisionmakers to start looking more closely at available and reliable data to make more informed, evidence-based policy decisions and communicate this openly and clearly, to earn the confidence of South Africans and avoid making political decisions during a state of disaster”.
Ackerman also bid farewell to CEO Richard Brasher, who had been at helm of Pick n Pay for eight years, and thanked him for his “enormous contribution and for the teamwork and integrity, and putting people first”.
“Fittingly, your final year has been the best. Just when the company needed strong leadership, you have calmly and skilfully steered the company, our customers and our people through unprecedented challenges,” Ackerman said.
The Pick n Pay founder, 90-year-old Raymond Ackerman, attended the results in person to say goodbye to Brasher.
Brasher, who joined from the UK, remained at Pick n Pay for an extra year to guide it during the coronavirus pandemic. Dutch national Pieter Boone took over as CEO on Wednesday.
In his first address, Boone said he is “very optimistic” about opportunities for Pick n Pay in SA and abroad. He aims to make Pick n Pay the first choice for customers, accelerate the growth of the Boxer business and grow the online business.
He also wants to “find a sustainable route in the rest of Africa”.
Massmart, owner of Game and Makro, has pulled out of four countries on the continent, while competitor Shoprite has closed stores in Kenya and sold its Nigerian business, but remains in some African countries.
Pick n Pay has low exposure to Africa but is profitable on the continent and still sees this as an area for growth.
Boone said he is taking over from “a stable, professional, well-run company” under Brasher.
Pick n Pay shares were up 0.78% to R54.40 on Wednesday.
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