How NWU - Vanderbijlpark *****s small businesses

We were contacted by a representative of the NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY, Vanderbijlpark campus on behalf of the VOICES OF THE RIVER choir regarding catering services for their excursion to Bloemfontein on the 15-17th October.

We are a small upcoming restaurant and catering company and we were thrilled to cater to the choir as we thought of the exposure it would bring, and based on that we canceled our other bookings for the weekend.

We were in touch with the conductor and submitted all the documentation that was requested, as well as the quotations for the work, which were duly accepted and an invoice requested and submitted. We went and purchased stock and all necessary supplies and even hired 2 casual workers to assist us for the weekend. We were in constant communication with the conductor/representative of the University and choir up to the day before their arrival in Bloemfontein.

Lo and behold, suddenly our calls went unanswered, as well as our texts and to this day, 25th October, we have not heard from the choir rep, I wrote a complaint to the university and a lady by the name of Lelethu called me and asked that I provide proof so that they could resolve the issue, nothing this far. I've sent her emails and she hasn't even acknowledged receiving them, though she provided me with her email address.

I was under the impression that they were trying to grow black business and support smme's but to my horror, I saw that they did come to Bloem on the said dates but we lost money on the stock we bought, the events we canceled and the wages we had to pay for nought.

I am very disappointed and I have consulted an attorney and will not be taking this lying down, I just hope that this is not generally how the University conducts it's affairs because this is exactly how you bankrupt small businesses.

If anyone cares enough, the representative of the university that we dealt with is a Mr Calvin Mo***eng, I hope that someone reaches out to help us resolve this matter urgently.

Regards