Long-serving staff celebrates 41 years with Chaka Brothers (Pty) Ltd |02 March 2022
Seychelles NATION (SN) is pleased to provide an insight into the life of an exemplary individual who started at the bottom and made her way up to management level and who is still going strong after 41 years in the same company – a clear example of hard work and determination at Chaka Brothers (Pty) Ltd.
As we all know, in the private sector, it’s not easy to find loyal employees who choose to stick to one entity to make and develop their lifetime careers. Most younger employees nowadays prefer to move from one job to another, often for better pay, less work or for their own self-development. Veronique Julienne, from Chaka Brothers, however is an example of an individual who managed to climb the ladder and develop a fulfilling managerial post while remaining at the same workplace.
Mrs Julienne (née Barbier) happens to be a very good neighbour of mine in the district of Anse Etoile. So I was very pleased to learn that yesterday, March 1, 2022, she just clocked in 41 years of service, working at the well-established Chaka Brothers family business.
The business was founded by the late Yakub Chaka and is currently being steered by his son, Gafoor Yakub Chaka, as chairman & CEO. While it is said that the Chaka Building or ‘La Maison Chaka’ is 102 years old, the Chaka Brothers shop was itself set up much later in 1965 when the late Yakub Chaka was 35 years of age. That means to date, the Chaka shop has been operating for a good 57 years. Coincidentally, Veronique Julienne is 57 years of age this year.
Veronique Julienne, then Barbier, explained that she joined the company in 1981 at the young age of 16 going on 17 as clerk-typist under the mentorship of the late Yakub Chaka. Over time, she undertook various relevant courses and she learnt practically as much as she could under the guidance of the late Yakub Chaka. As her knowledge and skills developed, she became more and more dedicated to her job. So, it was on account of this amazing transformation that the current CEO, Gafoor Yakub Chaka, decided to promote her to Office & Admin Manager after consulting the two other directors of the business. Today, Mrs Julienne more or less runs the day-to-day administration and operations of the shop and the back office, consulting with Mr Yakub on any important matters relating to import-export and wholesale-retail. Evidently, there seems to be a strong bond and a high level of trust and respect that has developed over the years between employer and employee.
For those who may not know, as a business entity, Chaka Brothers is quite well known for its aromatic spices, and its variety of organic teas, foodstuff, flower pots, homewares and kitchen wares such as storage bins and cleaning materials. In fact, most people tend to describe Chaka Brothers as “the company that supplies quality products at affordable prices”.
As the office and admin manager, Mrs Julienne explains that she is responsible for opening the shop every day at 8.30am – aside from Sundays and public holidays – and closing it at 4.30pm on weekdays and at 12noon on Saturdays.
She recalls that back in 1981, she was 16 going on 17 and she had just completed her Form 4 (the equivalent of S4) and was supposed to head off to the National Youth Service (NYS) which had recently been instituted that same year.
The mother however was against sending her young daughter to NYS for two years.
“My mum thought NYS was not ideal for girls – it was a more fitting programme for boys because it involved some basic military service for the youth. I was only 16, and maybe I would have had the opportunity to further my studies if my mum allowed me to go but that was her belief – and she was strict.”
Her family were living at Mont Fleuri at the time and she vividly remembers that her mother came to town to find a job for her young daughter. She first went to Dhanjee Brothers who informed her that Chaka Brothers was looking for a secretary. When she approached Yakub Chaka, he immediately agreed to take Veronique onboard. She adds, “By then, I had just started attending a typewriting class with Angelle Hoareau at Bel Eau.”
It was under the guidance of Yakub Chaka that Veronique refined her secretarial skills such as copy typing. “He trained me on a number of things. He would praise me whenever I got something right. This helped build up my self-confidence. Mr Chaka showed me how to calculate and prepare the bills of entry to clear import orders at customs. We did all of that manually in those days,” she remarked.
“My journey has been interesting. It involved hard work, determination and perseverance. I started on March 1, 1981 as a clerk-typist, after which I became the personal secretary to the late Yakub Chaka who was the then Managing Director. Then over the years as I gained more and more exposure, after the demise of Mr Yakub Chaka, in May 2013, I was promoted by his heir, Mr Gafoor Yakub, to the role of Office & Administration Manager, which I have being doing until now.”
It has been an incredible path in career development for Veronique who has witnessed the development of the Chaka Brothers business and the progressive improvements in its operations.
Veronique explained that when she started out in employment, everything was done manually at the time. “We worked on typewriters and used telex machines from Cable & Wireless. The telex machine was used for international correspondence when placing orders and so forth – email was not a thing at that point. After telex, we started using fax machines which is still in use, although less so. Then we upgraded to emails, intranet and the use of the internet for all our business correspondence.”
When asked why she stayed for just over 40 years long in the employment of the same Chaka Bros, Veronique stated that she has grown to love the informal but respectful family work environment. She said that Chaka Brothers provided her with room and opportunities for her to grow.
The most striking answer she offered to SN was, “It may seem like I stayed in the same place for a long time but I have not remained stagnant here. I took upon myself to take courses and to self-train; I undertook two correspondence courses and I am also a registered customs agent,” she said.
Veronique said: “Chaka is a good workplace; the company has contributed to the economy and it has served as a model for many other retail outlets which have been set up over the years. The company has survived challenging times such as the takeover of all its exports between 1985 and 1995 by SMB Trading, then it endured the serious shortages of foreign exchange, known as the forex pipeline, between 1993 and 2008 and the huge downturn in business during most recent pandemic of 2020-21. In short, Chaka Brothers is a household name that enjoys a strong and loyal clientele. I feel I have developed and grown a lot here.”
Looking to the future, the 57-year-old Veronique acknowledges that she is getting older and said that she will want to slow down at some point in time. Her advice to those who are younger is to “continue with your studies, get your qualifications, persevere and take initiative. You have to be motivated to move further in life, you should not be satisfied with being idle. I climbed various steps on the ladder and did not linger at the bottom of it”.
“Some want to simply remain as a shop assistant but I think it is always good to dream bigger and challenge yourself. Even if you did not attend the right school or the right classes, go out there and train yourself for your own personal and career development.”
