| Download PDF |
Small businesses in townships are suffering as most depend solely on day-to-day hustles to make ends meet. This includes take away food outlets which are partly banned as per lockdown rules.
‘Skhambane’
(or kota) is a famous township version of the bunny chow, and is what
most township fast food outlets serve on almost every busy corner in
many neighbourhoods. Sis Martha is one of the local self-employed
workers in this flourishing business. “We absolutely have no choice
but to open our businesses as this is our only income. If I close
shop, there is no food for me and my employees,” she said.
Her ‘skhambane’ take away shop in Zone 11, Sebokeng (Gauteng) has
been intermittently open, since before level four lockdown was
introduced. Opening a few days a week has been one of the way of
trying to not deliberately break lockdown regulations. But a van of
police has stopped at Sis Martha’s shop for a regulations check on
at least one occasion, and demanded that the shop close.
It
is already difficult for many who are dependant of this sort of
business. Many of these take away food outlets have mushroomed across
many townships, and competition is fierce. The lockdown has caused
many of these food outlets to stop operating, along with street
vendors. But many like Sis Martha have chosen the risk of trying to
earn a little money to feed their families.
George, 28,
sells fruits, sweets, chips, and drinks in Zone 11. He said, “I
went to my local councillor to ask him about a permit to operate my
business. He referred me to the Social Development local office at
Houtkop.” Houtkop is the local town where the Emfuleni
Municipality has its offices in Sebokeng. “I went to the Social
Development office at Houtkop,” said George, “and I was referred
back to my local ward councillor and told about a database. When I
got to him [the local ward councillor], he started telling me about
food parcels! I am still waiting for him and his food parcels,” he
said with frustration.
Tashe from Sudan operates a tuck
shop, in Zone 11, and employs a Malawian man to help him in the shop.
“My business is situated next to the clinic and we are not going to
escape this pandemic,” he said. “People line up every morning
next to my shop, queuing for the clinic. I have arranged for masks
for me and my employee. We have sanitisers and our customers have no
access inside our shop as they always stand outside the door on the
step to buy. This has always been the practice since we started
operating here”.
Karibu! met with another
‘skhambane’ shop owner in Zone 11. Paul lives with his wife and
little daughter in a rented room in Zone 12. Paul is a retrenched
electrician who use to work on the mines in Rustenburg. When Anglo
Platinum retrenched many of their workers in 2017, Paul was one of
the victims who had to find new ways to make ends meet. “I left
Rustenburg after staying there for more than five years, and working
at a few of Royal Bafokeng Platinum mines,” he said. “I started a
small food take away business to feed my family. At least since I
started working with my wife, we have been able to hire a few people
to assist us in the business. People come to assist and when they get
better opportunities they leave,” he said.
“The
COVID-19 pandemic is something of a strange disease because now, we
are suffering worse,” Paul said. Hygiene is one of the prime
concerns for take away food outlets and this is ostensibly why the
regulations have banned take away outlets from operating. Paul said,
“We use water all the time so we can wash hands regularly with soap
and wear masks while working. We have sanitiser for our customers and
we have enough space for social distancing inside and outside the
yard. “People still come and buy ‘skhambane’ because it is what
they like here in the township,” he said.
This
article was submitted on 6 May 2020. You may republish this article,
so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online
(www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a
link back to the original article.
