Over 20 staff members have been retrenched by once trendy and prestigious Durban Shisanyama, Max Lifestyle Village. This comes after the owner, Max Mqadi, stepped down and let his daughter Zinhle Mqadi take over the business.

RETRENCHED

A staff member who has lost his job at the once popular venue informed ZiMoja he has been let go. "Sidiliziwe. They say, there are no customers, and the business is not making money,' he says. "There are over 20 staff members left. We have been home since last week, not knowing what the future holds,' he adds. "This is the first time, I am at home.' The supervisors are also fired. With the 20 that is left, they will review next week and see If they are making money and If there is no improvement, they will let more staff members go.'

THE TAKE-OVER

Last year, Max announced he was stepping down from his position as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and his daughter Zinhle would be running the business. This is after he survived a shooting by unknown gunmen, outside his venue. "After spending the whole year away from my business, I have decided to allow my daughter to take charge. She has been running this establishment ever since my shooting. I want to break boundaries by allowing my daughter to run my establishment full-time," he said.

CONFIDENCE IN HIS DAUGHTER

Max said he was fully confident in his daughter to make the business thrive while he worked on the farming business. "We have no doubt that Zinhle who has been part of this award-winning trendsetter for many years, is not only ready to take this brand to the next level but that under her stewardship, the future for Max's Lifestyle Village will be even brighter," he said. The staff member says things changed when Zinhle took over. "Many people used to come because of her dad, but we don't know why there are no customers,' Zinhle confirmed the letting go of staff to ZiMoja. "Every business has its hurdles, but we will recover. This is part of business.'