At midnight on March 26, 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa placed South Africa into a hard lockdown in an effort to halt the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
IOL's Two Years of Covid series explores the personal stories of our journalists and some of the biggest stories we have covered over this period.
Many would describe Covid-19 as a disease which came to kill and destroy given how it affected the lives of millions of people across the world.
Very few people survived the wrath of the pandemic, those who didn’t lose their lives, lost their jobs or were financially affected in one way or another.
Even before Covid-19, South Africa had a dwindling economy and high rates of unemployment; the pandemic exacerbated the situation.
In November 2021, Statistics South Africa said that the pandemic increased unemployment, especially among young black job seekers, by close to 600 000 to 7.8 million.
Despite the tide going against the livelihoods of millions of people, there were some who managed to triumph against the odds.
Blessing Khumalo from Soshanguve’s Block S, is one of the few people who saw their establishment making substantial financial gains during the pandemic.
Khumalo, 35, has a bakery business which he opened in 2018 after resigning from his job.
“Before Covid, my bakery was doing just enough for me and my family to survive, there were months when the returns from the business were not so good and I had to ask my friends for loans just to get by,” he said.
Speaking to IOL, Khumalo refused to disclose how much he was making before and during the pandemic period, however he said it was now enough to even pay off some of the loans which he made while buying material to open his bakery.
In between chuckles, Khumalo shakes his head in disbelief and says it’s only by the grace of God that he was actually blessed during the pandemic.
“See because of this lockdown, most people including children were at home and we know how kids are, they always want to eat when they are home. So my bread is reasonable. In the beginning of the pandemic, a loaf was R9 and it’s now R10.
“And usually people would buy two or four loaves of bread at the most, so imagine if they had to buy Albany or Blue Ribbon every day and their jobs have been affected, plus I stay in a poverty stricken area, so getting my bread made sense,” he added.
Khumalo plans to increase the price next month to R11 citing the increase in food and petrol prices.
He said even though there was a good side to his story, there was also a minor glitch in the business.
“Before the pandemic, I had deals with crèches around the area and I would deliver brown bread, but because of the lockdown kids were now at home and I stopped selling brown bread. I am sure if I still had those deals with crèches, it would have made a bigger difference.”
Khumalo said even though most restrictions have been lifted and things are a bit normal again, he has built a good client base during the lockdown and his bakery is still operating smoothly.
“Load shedding and cable theft is my only setback at the moment,” he said.
Philly Marima, 59, also from Soshanguve was retrenched from his job in 2020 after almost 30 years of employment.
Even though Marima was two years away from being a pensioner, he said losing his job during the pandemic was a blessing in disguise.
“I know I was close to my pension, but I was not expecting to leave at that time, but in hindsight, I am glad that I did because I also managed to open a business which operates very well in Hammanskraal.”
Marima said after leaving his job, he knew that some areas in Hammanskraal had issues with clean and drinkable water and he saw it as an opportunity to open a business and sell water to the residents.
“I had a cousin who tried to open this water business, he had land and a building but didn’t have enough money to buy the material, that’s when I came in and bought the material to get the business started.
“The business was doing exceptionally well during the tight restrictions because people were always at home and needed more water and I also supplied to funerals,” he said.
Marima said there’s another company which also opened and sells water not far from his establishment but it doesn’t affect him that much because like Khumalo, he built a strong client base during lockdown.
“I still get clients who want water bottles during funerals and that’s good for my business, plus I also open on weekends and that’s where the money is at because people are at home and want to clean and do their laundry,” he explained.
IOL