South African businesses reflect on trauma of Covid

A South African business owner has told the BBC that some of his staff sent him messages saying they needed money for food during the height of the country’s battle against Covid-19 and restrictions.

“It was really sad for me,” Sakhumzi Maqubela, a restaurant owner in Soweto, told Alan Kasujja from the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast. “It was really terrible to be of no help to my staff,” he continued.

“They would send me photos of their furniture being thrown out of their places where they’re renting, that they need to pay the landlord,” he said.

Another businessman, who runs an events management company, said his lowest moment during the pandemic was in 2020 during the country’s highest alert level.

“I’m informed by some of my colleagues in government that there’s a looming lockdown,” Thato Mothopeng recalls.

“About 750,000 rand ($48,000; £38,000) worth of deals got lost and I was supposed to host the Soweto Camp Festival that Easter. So I’ve invested money, I can’t get refunds,” he said.

South Africa had the highest number of recorded Covid cases in the continent, with strict lockdown measures put in place to curb the disease’s spread.

In April 2022, it lifted the state of disaster, but some safety measures still remain in place.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

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