- Thirty-six Cashbuild stores have been damaged and are unable to trade due to unrest in parts of South Africa.
- Cashbuild said the timeline to reopen will depend on the nature and extent of the damage.
- Other retailers have also said they have been affected by the unrest which began over the weekend.
South Africa's largest building materials retailer, Cashbuild, confirmed on Wednesday that a total of 36 of its stores (32 Cashbuild and four P&L stores) have been damaged and looted and unable to trade.
The group has 317 stores.
This comes as parts of South Africa have been affected by looting, violence and property damage.
Cashbuild says it has insurance cover in place which will minimise losses to the group.
As the situation in the country "normalises", it will initiate a process of rebuilding, restoring and restocking affected stores, the company says. The timeline to reopen depend on the nature and extent of the damage.
Other retailers have also confirmed losses, with Massmart - owner of Makro, Game and Builders Warehouse - saying primarily KwaZulu-Natal Massmart facilities have been directly impacted.
"Massmart central distribution facilities in KwaZulu-Natal have been affected. However, our distribution centre network has built-in redundancy for scenarios that disrupt supply and so we have activated related back-up plans," said Brian Leroni, Massmart corporate affairs executive.
The Walmart-controlled retailer said its immediate priorities include ensuring the safety of its staff and to further secure its physical assets.
"We are rapidly shifting our attention toward finalising plans to ensure responsible reopening of affected stores as soon as it is safe to do so," said Leroni.
Pep owner Pepkor said a number of stores across the group have been impacted by the protest action and general unrest around the country, especially in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
"Merchandise has been looted and operations have been vandalised in what was a sad day for retail and the country as a whole.
"The group is monitoring the situation closely and has employed additional measures to ensure the safety of our employees and to safeguard operations and infrastructure," said Pepkor in response to questions.
Neither Massmart nor Pepkor could detail the full scope of damage to their operations at the time of publishing.