Street vendors fear the worst

MASERU-STREET vendors are worried that a fresh lockdown which kicked off last night will finally knock them out business. Tšolo Lebitsa, who is the chairman of the vendors association Khathang Tema Baitšokoli, said the decision to impose a lockdown came as a shock to them. “Once again we were thrown into the deep end with no say, even though we are still awaiting the speech by the Minister of Small Business Development,” Lebitsa said. He said the way Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro talked showed they will have no option but to pack their wares and go home. “He only referred to essential service shops being open and since we don’t have shops and we trade from the city’s streets, chances are that we will be home,” Lebitsa said. He said vendors are not happy with the announcement and are already asking that their representatives push for negotiations. “People are afraid, they are still traumatised by what they went through during the first lockdown,” he said. “Even today as we speak some people’s businesses died during that lockdown, they are still struggling to get back to business.” “Some of our colleagues died due to stress induced by that lockdown, hunger turned people into beggars, it is not a place we would want to find ourselves at again,” he said. From their experiences during the previous lockdown, he said, he would have expected the Prime Minister to give them a few days to prepare to avoid having similar chaos. “People have stock that some just bought yesterday and today is the only day they have to sell everything. We all know that it is not going to happen for all of them to sell their stock, especially those selling perishable goods like fruits, vegetables and food.” ’Mathato Matome’s vegetable stand is still full of vegetables like cabbages, onions, potatoes and tomatoes. She also sells fruits, airtime and snacks at Ha-Pita. She has been feeding her family that way for over 10 years. “It is true that this time around we do see that the virus is really here because we are losing neighbours, relatives and friends to it,” Matome said. “It is rather unfortunate that our leaders all this time from last year failed to increase capacity of infrastructure to fight this virus,” she said. “We are going to starve at home when they enjoy good meals with their families because they can afford to.” She said taking stock home means she will not be able to get back to business as soon as the lockdown is lifted. “I am not going to sell everything, I will be lucky if I sell half of these things by the time I leave today,” she said. “We are going to have to eat them with my family. Only things like airtime and snacks will survive.” This virus, she said, is a heartless one, eroding jobs and turning people into beggars. Tšeliso Komete sells fruits, cigarettes and snacks at the main bus stop in Maseru. He too is overwhelmed by the implications of the lockdown. Coming back from the December holidays only a week and a half ago there isn’t much he has sold. “Even during the festive holidays, we were not selling much, we are still trying to find our footing,” Komete said. “Now we have to close shop. The sad thing is we have just exhausted our funds buying new uniforms only for children to stay at home. Now we will also be joining them at home for two weeks,” Komete said. This will be the second year, he said, of wallowing in financial constraints, which is going to be brutal to most vendors. “I doubt that this time around we will be promised a relief fund. When the lockdown is eased, we are going to lose more colleagues, I mean most vendors’ cubicles are still empty because of the last lockdown.” Lemohang Rakotsoane