The Gauteng Economic Development Department has launched a campaign to prevent the liquidation of the popular sneaker brand Drip Footwear.
Story Summary:
- Gauteng Economic Department MEC Lebogang Maile pleads for intervention to save Drip Footwear from liquidation.
- Sehoana’s Drip Footwear faces a R20 million debt leading to a liquidation application.
- Speculation arises on whether government intervention will sidestep accountability for the debt.
Gauteng govt wants to save Drip Footwear from liquidation
MEC Lebogang Maile, in a statement, made a plea for government intervention, leveraging the Gauteng Township Economic Development Act to support the company’s founder, Lekau Sehoana, in avoiding accountability for a staggering R20 million debt owed to another company.
Maile doubled down on the importance of protecting township businesses, highlighting the sneaker brand’s role in providing employment to historically disadvantaged communities.
“We cannot sit back and watch The Drip Group (Pty) Ltd, a company founded in the township of Ivory Park by a young Black man who had the odds stacked against him, be liquidated. The company provides employment to hundreds of people, many of them from historically disadvantaged groups that include women and youth,” he stated.
Sehoana’s rise to prominence took a nosedive earlier this year with the revelation of a R20 million debt.
The Johannesburg-based company WideOpen Platform filed for the liquidation of Drip Footwear, citing the brand’s inability to service its debts.
Court papers indicate that Sehoana’s company is currently indebted to WideOpen Platform for over R20 million, resulting from unpaid advertising services.
Sehoana admitted to the debt and agreed to a payment plan involving multiple instalments. However, the payments were not made, leading WideOpen Platform to pursue liquidation.
MEC Maile has urged for government intervention to support the company’s founder, leveraging the Township Economy Act.
“In respecting the rule of law and wanting to maintain the very crucial principle of the separation of powers, it’s important that the law should never be punitive but rather, rehabilitative. When the law is rehabilitative, it makes allowance for business owners, particularly of SMMEs, to understand the depths of tax laws and other laws,” he added.
