Dis-Chem race row five months later: Some customers left, legal threats abandoned

Five months after its CEO sparked a controversy by calling for a moratorium on the hiring of whites, pharmacy group Dis-Chem confirmed it has taken a hit, estimating that between 5% to 8% of its white, coloured and Asian chronic medicine clients ditched the group.

However, legal threats surrounding the furore had died down, with Solidarity abandoning its case. And while Dis-Chem's share price has taken a large hit since October, analysts say much of this was due to a sell-off in retail stocks as the economic environment soured.

During a recent investor briefing that covered the period 1 September 2022 to 5 February 2023, Dis-Chem chief financial officer Rui Morais said the company's "analytics engine" had broken down its customer loyalty to the company by race, using SA's top 1 000 surnames in its research.