Uncertain futures for informal traders following Covid-19 outbreak
In the midst of uncertainty and as the virus continues to sweep across the country, informal traders are already feeling the effects of their wallets dipping.
NOTHING.
This is what informal business owners will do during the 21-day nationwide mandatory lockdown that was declared by the president on Monday, 23 March.
In the midst of uncertainty and as the virus continues to sweep across the country, informal traders are already feeling the effects of their wallets dipping.
Virginia Simon, who has a stall set up on Lansdowne Road in Wentworth, said her biggest challenge is surviving the coronavirus as well as the hard knocks her finances are going to take.
“My main concern is how are the people going to survive this lockdown. Like me, this is my survival but again, I have to protect myself. We’re in a predicament because you want to survive in both ways and I just hope it goes away soon.”
“They must find a cure for it but then how will they find it if they don’t know the cause of the virus? My business will be closed and there’s absolutely nothing I can do, I’m just going to be sitting at home and waiting and pray, of course, I live in prayer,” she said.
As widow and the only breadwinner at home, Bagcinile Mkhize sells fruits off a stand positioned on South Coast Road in Clairwood, she too is numbed by the situation.
“I feel defeated, helpless and voiceless because there is no bargaining about this situation. I cannot even sell from home so my stock will rot because even my fridge broke down recently. I was talking to another trader about this situation, there’s just nothing we can do,” she said.
Abu Espoir, manager of a salon in Clairwood said he still isn’t well clued up about the coronavirus and added: “I have to close the shop, there’s no doubt about that. We’re unfortunately going to lose business. Right now the only protection we have against the virus is the hand sanitiser that we spray on clients as they walk in,” he said.
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