Face masks come as a windfall for entrepreneurs

Youth and women’s groups, individual housewives and smallscale designers are making a killing out of the sale of face masks – thanks to the government’s declaration that wearing of masks was now mandatory when people leave their houses.

Many housewives have decided to dust off and oil their sewing machines and get business on the work table since the announcement by the Minister of Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, that people were free to make their own cloth masks – as long as they complied with standard specification approved by the health department.

A proper cloth mask must be triple-ply if it is to properly protect the wearer against Covid-19.

Mokgaetsi “Kaygee” Matlaisane, a clothing stylist from Akasia, north of Pretoria, said her business was doing very well since she added masks to her interior décor and events products.

She said since her other businesses were closed due to the lockdown regulations, she has branched into making an income by producing and selling masks.

“Since I started making these from 23 April, I made between R18,000 and R20,000 within two weeks because there is a huge demand for masks,” Matlaisane said.

“I am still taking orders because people like my designs and the fact that they are reversible. This has helped me to make an income to be able to pay for my household expenses and still pay some salaries to my employees.”

Matlaisane, who sells a reversible mask at R50 each, said she employed five people to make the masks. But in her interior décor and events business, she had two permanent staff and between 10 and 19 casual workers.

A resident of Discovery in Roodepoort, Mandisa Marawu, said the masks came as a windfall for her. She had been struggling to sell her clothes that she used to peddle in Krugersdorp but the new mask business has made a huge difference.

She sold her masks for R25 for adult sizes and R20 for children.

“Since I was requested by workers at a filling station down the road to make masks for them, I never stopped. But the government must buy these cloth masks from us and distribute them to the public for free. For me, the business has slowed down because most people have already bought masks.”

The most exciting case was that of clothing brand owner, Kamohelo Sothoane, from Daveyton in the East Rand. He sells a mask at R100 each because they were good quality and carried his brand, LXCVL®, which was popular in the township. He created the brand so as to divert people’s minds away American brands to love their locally branded outfits.

“I am doing well as a business. These masks have helped me to diversify my business. My masks are designed not just to protect against Covid-19 but also to match the person’s outfit and they are in different tones so that people can have a choice,” Sothoane said.

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