South Africa, March 27 -- In an emotional conference call to suppliers on Thursday, Edcon's CEO Grant Pattison delivered the sobering news that the company is unable to pay its suppliers, many of which are SMMES, as it only has sufficient liquidity to pay salaries at this time. He also said that Edcon, which is one of southern Africa's largest non-food retailers, may not be able to open at the end of South Africa's national lockdown to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The audio of the conference call was shared on The Money Show, hosted by Bruce Whitfield, who also broke down after sharing the audio clip.

Pattison said that following the President's first announcement on 15 March, Edcon's turnover had declined 45% in comparison to the sa...