Maputo’s Nautilus to close

Nautilus Pastelaria, located on the corner of Avenida 24 de Julho and Avenida Julius Nyerere in Maputo, will close its doors next Sunday (September 20), leaving 80 workers unemployed. Workers there say they were told less than a month ago, through a prior notice of the termination of the employment relationship between the parties. Although surprised at the management’s decision, the workers told ‘Carta’ that they were told they would be compensated according to length of service.

“When we got together to receive this information, we were all surprised. They say they would pay us compensation, but we are all worried because the coffee shop and the bakery will close this Sunday, and they have not spoken to us since we were handed the notice letters. So far, there has been no movement in relation to this month’s salaries, and we don’t know where to find the employers if they don’t honour their commitments, because they say they’re going to another office, but nobody knows where,” says one of the employees.

“We are practically in the process of moving, a lot is already being packed and they are taking it little by little. We don’t know where to, because the boss doesn’t say anything. To date, no information has been posted on the door to tell customers about the closing on Sunday. We don’t know what the reasons for the closure are, what they are about to do in this place, because information is scarce and nobody has told us anything concrete since they gave us the letters. We have colleagues who have worked here for over 22 years, and they are desperate because they are not sure if they will, in fact, be compensated,” another worker told our reporter.

Customers at the establishment reacted to the news with amazement. Yasmin Rajah, a resident of Bairro Central, told Carta that it was the first time she had heard that Nautilus was going to close. She says it is her favourite place, as, in addition to having coffee, she takes advantage of the space’s wifi to do her university work.

Cris Samamad, who said that Nautilus was the ideal place to do business, was dismayed to learn that the establishment was going to close, since that was where he always met clients of his real estate agency. Carta contacted Nautilus’ management to talk about the closure and the payment of compensation, but the management representative, who refused to identify herself, merely said that she “hadn’t heard anything about this closure yet”, which was why “we haven’t posted anything [on the matter]”.