Spaza shops and street vendors back in business.

KABOKWENI – Cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that informal traders such as spaza shops and street vendors are now free to operate as usual. They had closed down their businesses due to the 21-day lockdown.
The closing of spaza shops and street vending was causing hordes of people to gather at local supermarkets to buy essentials. This meant that shoppers spent about three to four hours there, as the supermarket only let in a small number of people at a time to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
“We have realised that spaza shops were supposed to be open, but for some reasons, some were asked to close. We are clarifying that all of them should be opened. We have included informal food traders,” Dlamini-Zuma said. She stated that informal food traders must get a permit from their ward councillors or their municipality and indicated that this would be free of charge.Joseph Nkambule, a spaza-shop owner, said the lockdown has affected his business negatively. “I have experienced a lot of losses due to the lockdown. Many of my products went off, as I could not sell anything. I had to take them off the shelves and throw them away.
“My wife is also experiencing great difficulty, as she cannot go to work due to the virus. The company that she works for is going through major problems. She is unsure if it will call her back to work after all of this is over. I am grateful that the government has allowed us to open spaza shops, this way I can make a living and feed my family,” Nkambule added.
James Kababdawo, who owns a very busy spaza shop, said he started operating it again, and he is greatly relieved. “I am a foreign national, and the income that I get from my shop takes care of my family back home. I am forever grateful to the government for allowing us to open ours again. I am now able to support my family again.”
Tenbir Hossain, another spaza-shop owner, said the government should have closed down all the shops and given people food parcels in order for Covid-19 to stop spreading. “All shops need to close in order for the virus to stop spreading, that way people would have limited places to go. We will lose business and money, but many lives will be saved.”