Looted businesses well on recovery mode

Last week, the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and Solidarity Fund’s Humanitarian Crisis Relief Fund visited businesses that were affected by last year’s looting sprees in Soweto. The purpose of the visit was to assess the impact of the financial support these businesses received following damages caused by the lootings.

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The financial relief programme was launched by the two entities in September last year with R580 million set aside to help affected businesses in both Gauteng and KZN.

The delegation from the Solidarity Fund and NEF together with the media kicked of the visit at Spar in Dobsonville before moving to KFC in Protea Glen.

Thanks to the relief fund, these businesses have been rebuilt and are already in operation. The next stop was Diepkloof where they visited Pick ‘n Pay which was also assisted through the fund thus helping save jobs for many locals.

Chairperson of the Solidarity Fund, Gloria Serobe said working with other organisations such as the NEF to fulfil their purpose has always been part of their modus operandi.

“By partnering with the NEF, the Fund was confident that this financial aid would reach the businesses that needed it most. And it has, demonstrating once again the strength we have when we step forward in solidarity,” said Serobe.

The partnership between the Solidarity Fund and the NEF not only helped save small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) recover from the effects of lootings but it also saved the township economy. In addition to that, thousands of people in both affected provinces got to survive retrenchment in a time when the country was still dealing with the Covid pandemic.

NEF CEO, Philisiwe Mthethwa said, “Since the establishment of the programme, funding has been approved for 140 sites, with a combined value of R623 million supporting 5 562 jobs. The partnership has been able to achieve more than its initial commitment through leveraging its partnership with the dtic.”

With the pandemic wrecking more havoc to the already unstable economy in South Africa, the July unrests worsened the situation for businesses and workers in Gauteng and KZN. The partnership between the NEF and the Solidarity Fund came at a right time and made a valuable contribution.