#ThisIsUs Street vendor suffers aftermath of looting

The recent incidents of theft and rioting have had an impact on local street vendors in ekasi.

After watching the devastation caused by looters near shopping malls, Mokgaetji Katlego Kgomo (31) remarked that street merchants were doomed.

The small informal business owner has a stall that sells atchaar, a spicy condiment similar to chutney in consistency and usually made with lime or mango, on the pavement outside Thembisa Plaza.

She sells normal atchaar, garlic atchaar and vegetable atchaar.

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The looting pandemonium impacted Kgomo especially hard because her livelihood relies on being in public spaces to sell the atchaar.

This prompted her to make significant changes to her professional and personal life to maintain her income.

However, this did not stop the entrepreneur from making money, as she sought new ways to makea living.

Kgomo has been selling by knocking on doors. This is after looting restricted the movement of people who were buying at the mall.

“I started my business in 2019 as a young South African in a developing country plagued by issues such as high unemployment and a lack of skills development among its citizens.

“As a jobseeker, I was locked in the unemployment category for a long time. I ran out of options and had no choice but to enter the informal sector to supplement my income to exist.

“The looting wreaked havoc on our lives, preventing us from doing our duties and leaving many of us fighting for survival. In the fight for food, we as street sellers suffer not alone.

“Low-income families who rely on street vendors for food now have to pay more to get what they need. This might have far reaching consequences.

“We were concerned that the looting would increase the number of people suffering from acute hunger, trigger a global recession that would disrupt food supply systems and exacerbate the problems and concerns of individuals employed in the informal economy.

“We’ve been driven to our knees by the pandemic and looting, and we’re struggling to keep consumers and discover new methods to stay innovative and thrive.

“With my business, the actual work began behind the scenes, from compiling a new financial strategy to knocking on doors to redesigning my business procedures. The work I’m doing now will help my business in the future.

“I faced a lot of challenges with the new ideas, but I didn’t focus on my problems. I realised here’s a big world out there and everyone goes through something. Some problems are especially difficult to overcome when the odds are stacked against us.

“Defying the odds, on the other hand, is something I told myself I can accomplish.”

With many street sellers experiencing near-total customer loss, the only way to continue was to seek financial assistance.

“Despite my ingenuity, we wish that government initiatives could fully compensate for our street vendors’ lost income. We plan to form advocacy groups that will lobby the government to provide emergency cash assistance to vendors during the pandemic, as well as to ensure relief programmes are inclusive of all workers, now and in the future,” said Kgomo.

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