Safety of staff is the company’s top priority as STIHL pledges to rebuild buildings damaged by looters during the recent unrest in South Africa, retain staff and support dealers ...

“For us as a family-owned company, the protection and safety of our employees is our top priority” says Dr Nikolas Stihl, Chairman of the STIHL Advisory Board and Supervisory Board. “We are shocked and appalled by the images coming out of South Africa. Parts of the country have been affected by severe rioting, violence and looting. The region in and around Durban has also been affected – as has our South African subsidiary ANDREAS STIHL Ltd. in Pietermaritzburg. We are pleased that all of the employees and their families are unharmed.”

The STIHL SA warehouse in Pietermaritzburg has been completely destroyed and its office building severely damaged as a result of the unrest and looting. STIHL headquarters in Germany has set up a crisis team to organise measures for the protection and well-being of the subsidiary’s roughly 40 employees in cooperation with Hayden Hutton, the Managing Director of STIHL South Africa.

Commitment to South Africa reaffirmed: STIHL guarantees jobs and supports dealers
“Our subsidiary in South Africa will continue to exist going forward. No employees will lose their jobs due to this unusual situation. On the contrary, we will rebuild STIHL South Africa. To do so, we need the expertise and dedication of our staff. We will make sure that our customers can continue to buy and use STIHL products in the future,” said Dr Stihl.

The STIHL subsidiary in South Africa supplies local dealers with products. The company has also pledged to help dealers. Right now, it is working on ways to supply dealers with its products in the short to medium term. Containers are being shipped to the country, with plans in place to also send equipment to South Africa by air.

The STIHL Group develops, manufactures, and distributes outdoor power equipment for forestry, agriculture, landscaping and construction sectors.