When Covid-19 hit South Africa, neither of us could tell how our livelihoods were bound to change.  On the 5^th of March 2020, the Minister of Health confirmed the very first case of Covid-19 in South Africa.

The virus was foreign to South Africans, but they knew how dangerous and deadly it was. Upon the discovery of the first case, the numbers started escalating and more and more people were infected by the virus, the government then followed what the governments from the countries who had been hit by the virus did and shut down the country to prevent the spread of the virus.

The shutdown meant that most businesses across the country had to face closure for a period of time. Joshua, the owner of a local internet café was one of the businesspeople who had to pause their services for a short while. The business helped the people of the New Brighton and Kwazakhele communities with job applications, compiling CVs, emails, and mostly helps students with research for their assignments.

Joshua said that the internet café had been running smoothly before the nationwide shutdown for covid-19 began. He further said that he was able to financially support himself, his three employees and his family during the first three weeks of the national shutdown but when it got extended, he knew both his businesses would not survive. Not only did the closure of his business affect him personally but the community at large as people could no longer use his services.

On the 9^th of March 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the nationwide lockdown to the end of April as the number Covid-19 cases had suppressed over 900. Joshua says he knew it had to be done for the good of our people but wished things were different.

Joshua’s biggest fear came to reality. “I knew there a then that I will suffer further as my savings were already coming to an end, my employees faced a month of not getting any salaries as well.”

Joshua says he knew he had to make a plan, not only for himself and his family but for his employees and decided to venture into an essential goods business. He sold hand sanitizers, masks, over the counter medications and cleaning products with his last savings. “In the communities, most shops did not sell such products, therefore I saw the gap and took advantage of it.”

His essential goods business was booming and even scored a contract to sell hand sanitizers in bulk with the local municipality. He then took his employees and hire one more in the new business. Moreover, he taught other community members how to make their own hand sanitizers and helped them to earn a living through these difficult times.

The father of four said, “the New Brighton community helped me a lot, so I needed to give back because at that point everyone was suffering financially.”

When asked if he would reconsider reopening his internet café’s he said, “I sold most of the equipment so I could maintain the other business, but it is something which has been at he back of my mind, when the timing is right though.”

Zandile Mshupisi, one of the community members whom Joshua taught said, “I had just gotten my retrenchment email from my former employer when Joshua came to my rescue, he helped kept my kids at school.”

Joshua’s resilience is what brought him to where he is today. He encouraged the youth to never give up and always try to find solutions to your problems instead of throwing the towel.

The International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFRI) found that low-income households suffered the most due to the lockdown restrictions. Many people have lost their jobs and are dependent on social grants and UIFs to keep their households running.

Additionally, the government has implemented a social relief grant for those who have been hit hard and left with no jobs during this time. Some community members have been handing out food parcels to such families.

To curb the virus, government continues to implement lockdown restrictions when necessary and have started to roll out vaccines namely Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. This is to help the country to cope with the virus and hopefully things will get back to normal so the economy will improve.

Bibliography:

1. NICD. 2021. FIRST CASE OF COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS REPORTED IN SA – NICD. [online] Available at: <https://www.nicd.ac.za/first-case-of-covid-19-coronavirus-reported-in-sa/#:~:text=This%20morning%2C%20Thursday%20March%205,to%20Italy%20with%20his%20wife.&gt; [Accessed 10 September 2021].
2. Brown, M., 2020. South Africa Begins Nationwide Coronavirus Lockdown. [online] Voice of America. Available at: <https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/south-africa-begins-nationwide-coronavirus-lockdown&gt; [Accessed 9 September 2021].
3. Gov.za. 2020. President Cyril Ramaphosa: Extension of Coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown to the end of April | South African Government. [online] Available at: <https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-extension-coronavirus-covid-19-lockdown-end-april-9-apr-2020-0000&gt; [Accessed 9 March 2021].

Ulundi Mpulu is a young entrepreneur aged 22 years old from Motherwell township in Port Elizabeth. He studied woodwork at the Raymond Mhlaba training center where he obtained woodwork skills. However, this interview informs us about his home restaurant named The Pallet Dr.

How did the business idea came about?

In 2017 my mother who was a cook at a lodge got retrenched and things got tough at home. At that time, I had just finished school and struggling to find a job. I then decided to build a wooden container and sell fat cakes from home with my mother. I then fell in love with cooking and my mother taught me new food recipes which now form a part of The Pallet Dr.

Why the name, The Pallet Dr?

“I did woodwork at school and as I was doing my practical’s, I designed and made a wooden bag which my lecturer loved. He later gave me the name ‘The Pallet Dr’. it stuck with me and I vowed to name my businesses with that name and here we are”, he said with a smile.

What kind of food does The Pallet Dr offers?

We serve different kind of dishes, from African cuisine to Pizza and seafood. We also do pop up restaurants at Red house Lodge during the weekends to sell some of the dishes we serve here.

Covid-19 has crippled a lot of businesses, how did it affect yours?

Well, he paused and sighed. “I started this business with no capital or any form of sponsor. I had to save and start from scratch. The covid 19 hit me so hard as the business was starting to gain popularity in the Nelson Mandela Bay, I had to accommodate a few people and that greatly injured the sales so much, so I had to lay down some of my staff.”

How many employees do you have?

I had six employees including a chef but now I am left with three. All of them are from the neighborhood.

Hiring people means you are positively contributing into your community; how does that make you feel?

I feel very proud of myself even though I would love to hire more people in the future. Most of the people I work with are young and this is a start for them. I hope they grow and start their own businesses in future as well.

What challenges are you currently faced with in your business?

Firstly, it is the shortage of relevant equipment such as a gas stove and an oven. Secondly, it is the lack of space because the restaurant is situated at the back of my yard so there is not enough space at all. Lastly, it is the lack of funding in general because I would love to better the business as a whole.

If lack of capital is a challenge, how is the business coping?

Not enough to afford rent so that I can expand the business. Hence, we have collaborated with Red house for pop up restaurants. I believe I could save money from that collaboration. Also, hoping that more lodges take interest in doing the same.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

The owner of Coke’s Tavern is my inspiration. He is also my mentor as he is the one who gives me business advice when necessary. He has been in the industry for over 15 years. I respect him.

What message or advice would you give to the young people of South Africa who are currently faced with unemployment?

Do not give up and take any job that is there until you get the one you want.

What advice would you give the ones who want to be entrepreneurs?

They should also not give up. Entrepreneurship is full of failures but once you start winning, no one can stop you from getting to the top. If you want to start a business, follow these 5 instructions:

• Do your research about the business you want to start.
• Draw up a business plan for sponsorship, you can go the NYDA offices for more information.
• Do not give up, especially if a day does not end without you thinking about your business idea.
• Think of how you will market your business, for example, you can use social media.
• Have a unique way of thinking and doing things in your business.

Where do you see yourself in the next two years as a businessperson?

Well, I see myself expanding my restaurants to different venues and creating more work positions. I would also love to open a woodwork school as it is something I am good at as well.  

Interview of Zanele Msizi

The employer of five says women empowerment is something she always wanted to be a part of. She grew up in the care of women – her grandmother, mother and older sister – a fact that she attributes to shaping her into the person she is today.  Msizi holds BA in Media communications and Culture, she has a beauty therapy company known as Msizi’s hair beauty shop and is also a writer. Her book titled, “the three little dolls” encourages young black women to love and nurture their natural hair.

Her aim is to employ at least 10 people by 2021.

She passionately tells us how making money doing the things she loves motivates her to yearn for more success.

“I always try to see how I can make money out of my hobbies because I believe in doing something you love as your job. We do make up and sell wigs which we import from China.”

Her business started gaining popularity when she offered to do make up and hair for five matriculants for their matric dance at no cost.

Her proudest moment was campaigning for shoe brand, Bathu earlier in 2019. This South African brand is owned by Theo Baloyi and has sixteen stores nationwide,

She says, “imagine being chosen to actively participate in such a huge campaign for this huge brand and witnessing people loving and appreciating your work.”

She further adds that it is such things that motivate her to do her job with such passion. Currently she employs two people in her make up business and three people in her hair business. She spends most of her time on her book and monitors the beauty business twice a week.

Reflecting on the impact of the Covid-19 as a businesswoman, she said that her businesses suffered a great loss as she could not do anything during the lockdown season and her employees have suffered as well as they were not getting paid. However, she added that she is slowly recovering.

“Customers are slowly coming back in numbers the business and we also do house calls for those who are scared to leave their homes because of this virus”, she said.

Women empowerment is her main drive, she mentions that if women are self-dependent, they would not stay in abusive relationships because of running away from poverty.

“My main goal is to make sure women have an income so that they do not endure abusive relationships because they are dependent on their abusers, “she says.

She advised those who would like to go into business to never sit on their ideas. She said, “it gets hard, but you will definitely pull through as long as you put your mind into it.”

Her for main points for running a business are:

• Do your research, know what you are getting yourself into.
• Write down your business plan.
• Where is it going to be located?
• Decide how you will fund your business and never be afraid to take risks.

 Asked about her future as a businesswoman, she smiles as she thinks about it and says, “I am addressing a crowd in my killer two- piece suit more like a seminar where my name is of value in the world.”

Msizi continues to go to community schools to motivate school children to do better in life and supplies them with food and sanitary towels.

 She started school at the age 7 at Mafia primary school, preceded to Khwezi Lomso high school and after one gap year she furthered her studies at Nelson Mandela University. She says, “I always try to give back to those in need in a way I can. I love making people feel good about themselves.”

To her, the challenge she is currently facing spending less time with her family.

 She says, “even though I love and enjoy what I do, I always worry about spending less time with my family because I am always on the road.”

Multiple streams of income have always been a thing for businesswoman, Zanele Msizi

Interview of Zanele Msizi

The employer of five says women empowerment is something she always wanted to be a part of. She grew up in the care of women – her grandmother, mother and older sister – a fact that she attributes to shaping her into the person she is today.  Msizi holds BA in Media communications and Culture, she has a beauty therapy company known as Msizi’s hair beauty shop and is also a writer. Her book titled, “the three little dolls” encourages young black women to love and nurture their natural hair.

Her aim is to employ at least 10 people by 2021.

She passionately tells us how making money doing the things she loves motivates her to yearn for more success.

“I always try to see how I can make money out of my hobbies because I believe in doing something you love as your job. We do make up and sell wigs which we import from China.”

Her business started gaining popularity when she offered to do make up and hair for five matriculants for their matric dance at no cost.

Her proudest moment was campaigning for shoe brand, Bathu earlier in 2019. This South African brand is owned by Theo Baloyi and has sixteen stores nationwide,

She says, “imagine being chosen to actively participate in such a huge campaign for this huge brand and witnessing people loving and appreciating your work.”

She further adds that it is such things that motivate her to do her job with such passion. Currently she employs two people in her make up business and three people in her hair business. She spends most of her time on her book and monitors the beauty business twice a week.

Reflecting on the impact of the Covid-19 as a businesswoman, she said that her businesses suffered a great loss as she could not do anything during the lockdown season and her employees have suffered as well as they were not getting paid. However, she added that she is slowly recovering.

“Customers are slowly coming back in numbers the business and we also do house calls for those who are scared to leave their homes because of this virus”, she said.

Women empowerment is her main drive, she mentions that if women are self-dependent, they would not stay in abusive relationships because of running away from poverty.

“My main goal is to make sure women have an income so that they do not endure abusive relationships because they are dependent on their abusers, “she says.

She advised those who would like to go into business to never sit on their ideas. She said, “it gets hard, but you will definitely pull through as long as you put your mind into it.”

Her for main points for running a business are:

• Do your research, know what you are getting yourself into.
• Write down your business plan.
• Where is it going to be located?
• Decide how you will fund your business and never be afraid to take risks.

 Asked about her future as a businesswoman, she smiles as she thinks about it and says, “I am addressing a crowd in my killer two- piece suit more like a seminar where my name is of value in the world.”

Msizi continues to go to community schools to motivate school children to do better in life and supplies them with food and sanitary towels.

 She started school at the age 7 at Mafia primary school, preceded to Khwezi Lomso high school and after one gap year she furthered her studies at Nelson Mandela University. She says, “I always try to give back to those in need in a way I can. I love making people feel good about themselves.”

To her, the challenge she is currently facing spending less time with her family.

 She says, “even though I love and enjoy what I do, I always worry about spending less time with my family because I am always on the road.”

Have you ever wondered about what really went down during the 1976 Soweto Uprising? What was the main cause for this movement and most importantly, if you are interested in historical films then this is for you. This movie takes us back to the brutal time of apartheid in South Africa. It mainly informs its audience about the struggles of young black people during the years of apartheid as it focuses more on the side of the injustices in black community schools where students were forced to learn in Afrikaans.

Sarafina whose real name is Leleti Khumalo is the main character in this movie, she plays the character of a young fearless black woman who decides to fight against the enforcement of having to learn in Afrikaans at her school. She influences her schoolmates to fight against these inequalities through protests and singing of struggle songs. She becomes more vocal about her anti-government views after her favorite teacher Whoopie Goldberg is arrested for protesting the government for having to teach her students who are black in the Afrikaans language. While locked up in jail, Ms. Goldberg further encourages her students to fight for their rights and gives them direction as to what to do or where to go next.

Darrell Roodt is the director of this movie. This South African director has directed a lot of movies including, Winnie Mandela and Long walk to Freedom.  The cast includes many stars such as American actress Whoopie Goldberg, Mbongeni Ngema, Dumisani Dlamini, Somizi Mhlongo and many more others.

The violent scenes in the movie illustrate the brutality of apartheid police towards young black South Africans and the clashes between the two parties.  They get shot, tortured, and beaten up. You will definitely get mixed emotions when you come across these scenes because you may cry with the characters when they cry over their friends or schoolmates who are killed by the police.

It also illustrates the inspiration of how these students overcame their struggles. These scenes may leave you feeling upset as they are raw scenes of the reality back then. What is more interesting in this movie, is the scene which portrays how student protester, Hector Pieterson died when he got shot during these protests in the year 1976.

This movie was shot in the streets of Joburg in Soweto, the visuals contain graphic scenes that remind us of the struggles of the youth of 1976 where many young black people were killed during their participation in the Soweto Youth Uprising. The songs sang by the protesters in this movie also play a huge role in portraying the ways in which the black people at that time got their strength. You will notice that a scene where these songs are sang in the movie are when these students are going to either protest or burying their fellow men.

The lighting in this movie is pretty good as most scenes were shot outdoors. However, even though it was mostly shot outdoors in the streets of Soweto, you will not get to see much of this location as the scenes in this movie revolve in same places, namely, the school, prison, and a few houses.

The audience may learn a thing or two about the contribution of young black south Africans in the struggle for freedom, the struggle songs, how they organized their meetings and most importantly how they overcame these hard times of their lives. It may also trigger emotions of those who were alive and old enough to have suffered from apartheid.

I personally enjoyed it because it is quite informative and an eye opener. I believe that it is a movie that needs to be watched by every South African who is interested in our history. Furthermore, it encourages us to learn more about our struggle heroes and heroines who fought for the freedom we have today and to embrace one another as South Africans regardless of skin color.

So, if you are a lover of history, equality, freedom, and unity. This is film is definitely for you!

Bibliography:

1.  Sahistory.org.za. n.d. The June 16 Soweto Youth Uprising | South African History Online. [online] Available at: <https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising&gt; [Accessed 5 January 2021].
2. Beach, A., 2021. Sarafina! – Movie Review. [online] Commonsensemedia.org. Available at: <https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/sarafina&gt; [Accessed 6 January 2021].

Concerns of youth unemployment in South Africa continue to rise as the country is in the process of trying to fix the economy after being hit by the Coronavirus. The already crippled economy has suffered greatly after the country was locked up to curb the spread of covid-19 and that worsened the unemployment rate.

According to an Eyewitness News report, in April to June 2020, there young people aged 15 to 34 were unemployed in South Africa. This proves that many young people do not have financial freedom. Which brings us to the question, “how are they coping?”

I sat down with unemployed graduate, Zuko Mazomba who has been without a job since his internship in 2012. He outlines the issues surrounding youth unemployment, he says, “firstly you have to have money to look for employment, whether be it money for transport or data for online job applications, you have to have money.”

This makes it even harder for those who come from poor backgrounds as they would have to get into debt for them to be able to go look for jobs.  Emotionally, it is draining according to Zuko to be unemployed. He says, “seeing your friends moving forward with their lives and you are just stuck where you were years ago is no mean feat.”

Those with jobs are also not relaxing where they are because companies are retrenching stuff due to money loss that occurred during the period of the national lockdown which restricted people’s movements. For example, the SABC has been on the news for wanting to retrench hundreds of their stuff and many other companies are already doing that. Which means, more people are soon to be left unemployed.

 Most young people have been venting on social media about their frustrations which are caused by unemployment, some are even experiencing depression as a result of this issue.

However, some young people have decided to take charge of their lives by starting small businesses whilst they wait for employment. This comes after the government encouraged the youth to become business owners instead of employees so that they could help create more employment. In an interview with news channel eNCA, minister of education at that time, Naledi Pandor encouraged the youth to think outside the box and take on entrepreneurship.

There are also organizations to help the youth with business related matters such as the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). This organization helps the youth with business plans and fundings. A lot of young entrepreneurs like Kamohelo Mofokeng whom according to online magazine, Youth Village is ranked number three out of the thirty young people whose businesses are doing quite well. The article reads, “after working for more than five years as a driving instructor and discovering that it is something that he enjoys, in 2009 Errol Ramulungo (32) and his business partner established Lets Driving School. Based in Embalenhle, a township in Mpumalanga, in 2010 Lets Driving School benefited from the National Youth Development Agency’s (NYDA) Business Plan Voucher and further received a Website Development Voucher in 2011. Today he employs three driving instructors and has a well maintained fleet of cars and trucks. Errol is able to fix his fleet when necessary because he holds a certificate in mechanical engineering”. (Top 30 Young Entrepreneurs in South Africa – Youth Village, 2020).

Therefore , this shows that entrepreneurship my be the way to go, and if it is possible that you have been sitting on business ideas that could make you a very successful business person and you are probably wondering where to start. We got you, here are the ways to start your own business according to the South African government:

• Visit the Department of Labour to get tips for self-employment.
• To get all the information you need about starting a business, Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) will help you with that.
• The South African government services ha website information on registering a business.

According to business news writer, Stella Morrison, there are several things to take into considerations when starting a business such as:

• Doing your research
• Determine your audience
• Map your finances
• Go over your business plan before handing it to your potential funder
• Understand the risks

It is important to take the above-mentioned steps in your journey to starting a business so that you know what to do and how to do it.

Coronavirus further increases youth unemployment rate in South Africa, while youth entrepreneurship becomes a ‘thing’.

Concerns of youth unemployment in South Africa continue to rise as the country is in the process of trying to fix the economy after being hit by the Coronavirus. The already crippled economy has suffered greatly after the country was locked up to curb the spread of covid-19 and that worsened the unemployment rate.

According to an Eyewitness News report, in April to June 2020, there young people aged 15 to 34 were unemployed in South Africa. This proves that many young people do not have financial freedom. Which brings us to the question, “how are they coping?”

I sat down with unemployed graduate, Zuko Mazomba who has been without a job since his internship in 2012. He outlines the issues surrounding youth unemployment, he says, “firstly you have to have money to look for employment, whether be it money for transport or data for online job applications, you have to have money.”

This makes it even harder for those who come from poor backgrounds as they would have to get into debt for them to be able to go look for jobs.  Emotionally, it is draining according to Zuko to be unemployed. He says, “seeing your friends moving forward with their lives and you are just stuck where you were years ago is no mean feat.”

Those with jobs are also not relaxing where they are because companies are retrenching stuff due to money loss that occurred during the period of the national lockdown which restricted people’s movements. For example, the SABC has been on the news for wanting to retrench hundreds of their stuff and many other companies are already doing that. Which means, more people are soon to be left unemployed.

 Most young people have been venting on social media about their frustrations which are caused by unemployment, some are even experiencing depression as a result of this issue. However, some young people have decided to take charge of their lives by starting small businesses whilst they wait for employment. This comes after the government encouraged the youth to become business owners instead of employees so that they could help create more employment. In an interview with news channel eNCA, minister of education at that time, Naledi Pandor encouraged the youth to think outside the box and take on entrepreneurship.

There are also organizations to help the youth with business related matters such as the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). This organization helps the youth with business plans and fundings. A lot of young entrepreneurs like Kamohelo Mofokeng whom according to online magazine, Youth Village is ranked number three out of the thirty young people whose businesses are doing quite well. The article reads, “after working for more than five years as a driving instructor and discovering that it is something that he enjoys, in 2009 Errol Ramulungo (32) and his business partner established Lets Driving School. Based in Embalenhle, a township in Mpumalanga, in 2010 Lets Driving School benefited from the National Youth Development Agency’s (NYDA) Business Plan Voucher and further received a Website Development Voucher in 2011. Today he employs three driving instructors and has a well maintained fleet of cars and trucks. Errol is able to fix his fleet when necessary because he holds a certificate in mechanical engineering”. (Top 30 Young Entrepreneurs in South Africa – Youth Village, 2020).

Therefore , this shows that entrepreneurship my be the way to go, and if it is possible that you have been sitting on business ideas that could make you a very successful business person and you are probably wondering where to start. We got you, here are the ways to start your own business according to the South African government:

• Visit the Department of Labour to get tips for self-employment.
• To get all the information you need about starting a business, Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) will help you with that.
• The South African government services ha website information on registering a business.

According to business news writer, Stella Morrison, there are several things to take into considerations when starting a business such as:

• Doing your research
• Determine your audience
• Map your finances
• Go over your business plan before handing it to your potential funder
• Understand the risks

It is important to take the above-mentioned steps in your journey to starting a business so that you know what to do and how to do it.