Pretoria - Trade secrets and a restraint of trade undertaking by a design planner who worked for Shoprite Checkers, but had resigned to work for Clicks has been validated in the Western Cape High Court.
Shoprite feared its former employee would spill the beans on its trade secrets. Tebogo Kgatle started working for Shoprite as a trainee in their logistics division and in 2021 was employed as a design planner. The retail giant also assisted him via a bursary to help him to obtain his honours degree from the University of Stellenbosch.
While Shoprite agreed to retain him even after he had resigned, it had put its foot down to stop Kgatle working for a direct competitor. The court noted that Clicks is one of the largest retail chains selling, among other things, the same pharmaceutical and household products as Shoprite.
The court granted an urgent order in favour of Shoprite, interdicting Kgatle from working for a competitor, including Clicks, for one year.
The order included that he may not, during this period, work for a company or outlet which does business involving the distribution and/or sale through retail chain stores of any food or related products, including pharmaceuticals.
The final interdict was granted following an earlier interim interdict, and judge Derek Wille ordered at the time that the “confidential affidavits” filed by the parties regarding the trade secrets were to remain sealed in his chambers so that the secrets did not fall in the wrong hands.
After Kgatle was appointed as a design planner at Shoprite Checkers, he signed a restraint of trade agreement, which specified that he would not share Shoprite’s trade secrets.
He, however, resigned as he said that there were no prospects of advancing with his career at Shoprite.
He, however, faced the hurdle that the restraint prohibited him from being employed by any business that sells and distributes the same products through retail chain stores.
However, Kgatle argued it would be unfair, unreasonable and not in the public interest to enforce the restraint against him because he gave Shoprite an undertaking that he would keep its information confidential and not share it with the group’s competitor Clicks.
He said that the enforcement of the restraint was unreasonable and that the confidential information he may have been exposed to was of no commercial benefit to Clicks.
The court concluded that the restraint, which he had signed when he was promoted to a manager’s position at Shoprite, prohibited Kgatle from being employed by a competitor and that he had to honour this undertaking.
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