Accusing big mall owners of "atrocities" against small tenants, retail magnate and self-styled activist Marcel Joubert has vowed to start a revolution for their rights.

He flung down the gauntlet at the eighth annual African Congress of Shopping Centres at the Cape Town convention centre.

Joubert, chairman of the R200 million design and retail empire Platinum Holdings, cited crushing rent rises, arbitrary termination of tenancies and other "dirty little secrets".

He pledged to "take down mighty walls of oppression and repression" erected by big businesses that he said forced small retailers to throw in the towel.

These structural impediments, Joubert suggested, have an effect similar to that achieved when a frog is put in a pan of water and the heat is turned up very slowly.

Imperceptible changes are made until, ultimately, the frog dies without even moving.

Joubert contended that a similar fate awaited small retail outlets in malls if unfair trade agreements and other pratices enforced by landlords were not confronted.

An angry debate ensued after his speech.

There was heated argument about a 2001 court battle between Tyger Valley shopping centre tenants and the landlord over terminated rent agreements.

Big tenants such as retail store chains tend to get long leases. But small retailers that do not have the financial underpinning of the major players get much shorter terms - at far higher prices per square metre.

This has smaller retailers simmering.

Major retailers pay about R25 per square metre for their rental space, but smaller outlets can fork out up to R500 per square metre.

And their rentals can be expected to increase as much as 60% upon lease renewal, they say.

Joubert said one tenant he spoke to called retail landlords "a bunch of f***ing Nazis", alleging cross-subsidies were given to major retailers in malls.

He said that with the advent of the shopping centre, a concentration of power had arisen within the "concrete monolithic juggernauts" built by the new shopping emperors.

Tenants could no longer make a deal with the landlord "next door" when terms were unfavourable, because now, as the market became less fragmented, there was no landlord next door.

Joubert described the shopping centres as essentially "privatised cities" where a lack of checks and balances placed power in the hands of one almighty landlord who would not necessarily exercise his power responsibly.

"Tough" appeared to be the response of big mall owners to the allegations.

Professor Brian Kantor, UCT economist and currently an investment strategist for Investec, spoke for landlords' interests in the debate, saying he believed in the ability of the market to resolve economic ills

He said the differences between the rents of major and small retailers were a function of the market, increasing competition, and eventually working to everyone's benefit.

The approach he took was similar to that of the Gear programme instituted by the government, in which increased revenue overall would, by extension, benefit smaller businesses.

Kantor said he believed that the system in place was one that worked but it could not be expected to ensure that all parties involved were happy.

Tenants entered into contracts creating a symbiotic relationship with landlords and if it was not to their advantage to do so, they would not, Kantor argued.

The combatants could find no solution or compromise on this red hot issue during the conference.

But it was agreed that a code of conduct and possibly a conflict resolution team might be in order. - Argus Network