The opening of the E40 million new Boxer Supermarket at The New Mall in Mbabane has been met with mixed reactions, especially from other tenants of the building where the establishment is located.
The other tenants of The Mall feel the new supermarket will create a couple of challenges, mainly they cited traffic. They said the launch of the retailer is premature and could create serious operational challenges.
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The supermarket is set to officially open its doors today. The store had started advertising opening specials, much to the excitement of consumers.
The concerns were raised by the tenants and others during a stakeholders’ meeting held yesterday at The Mall’s parking, where about 200 representatives from various businesses attended.
Among the stakeholders were representatives from Woolworths, Ackermans, Shoprite, Mashiphisa Supermarket, MTN Sharks, the South African High Commission, several boutique owners, and the Mbabane Kombis Transport Association.
Most attendants of the meeting accused the Municipal Council of Mbabane of treating Boxer differently. They accused the municipality of allowing the supermarket to open without ensuring that critical aspects were attended to.
MTN Sharks’ Andile Kunene expressed concern that the arrival of Boxer would significantly increase traffic in an already congested area. He warned that the combination of shoppers crossing between Boxer and the bus rank, along with existing kombi operations, could create serious traffic bottlenecks.
“I am not sure how the engineers of the project planned decided to allow the shop on such a busy street with not enough parking. There will be a lot of customers crossing from Boxer to the bus rank, causing traffic for kombis coming from the rank. My suggestion is that there must be proper traffic controls so as to avoid chaos,” Kunene said.
Nelisiwe Dlamini from Ackermans also decried the planning and construction process of the supermarket. She said previous deliveries to other shops had already demonstrated how limited parking space could quickly become a problem.
“Boxer must not be treated differently. It must be treated like all the shops operating at The Mall. There were six trucks delivering on the same day and causing traffic. Why can’t Boxer trucks deliver from behind as was promised from the beginning? Other big shops here manage with limited space, so they should too,” she said.
The Mbabane Kombis Transport Association also raised safety concerns. Its representative, Sifiso Kunene, said Boxer should prioritise addressing the issues raised before opening to the public.
“This is for the safety of the public,” Kunene said. He added that citizens would flood the shop, rushing to buy. “Is the safety of the nation guaranteed?” he asked.
From Woolworths, Angel Dlamini stressed the importance of fairness, saying all tenants should be treated equally by the Municipal Council of Mbabane.
“We want enough parking like before. Boxer must be treated just like others. We all pay rent, and none of us should receive special treatment,” she said.
Meanwhile, a taxi driver Ntokozo Motsa stationed at the Mbabane Bus Rank, thanked Boxer for contributing to development in the area, although he was not happy with the traffic that would come with the shop’s opening.
Meanwhile, pedestrian Bethusile Cindzi shared her view that the supermarket rushed its opening. “Everything was just rushed. They should have waited a little longer to get their house in order before opening,” she said.
On that note, Programme Director Nothando Dlamini claimed that the Municipal Council of Mbabane was informed about the meeting but they did not attend it.
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