Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa
My name is Nobulali, I am currently residing and running a small business in Kempton Park. I specialise in customs clearing and procurements. I am very passionate about my industry.
I am hereby writing to you to inform you that Covid-19 has brought my business to its knees. This is compromising and violating my basic human rights, which are food clothes and shelter. We just celebrated Human Rights Day and my children and I did not get to enjoy that right.
Freedom Day, I did not celebrate, as I have no financial freedom. I did not celebrate Workers Day since you have taken my business from me for two months and I have lost clients. It is now month end and you received your salary while I have not had mine in two months and will be evicted from the premises I occupy.
I have been writing to you via email since May 2020 to offer my services in customs clearing, the most high-profile vaccine which will bring healing to the nation as well as create much needed employment in our community.
However I have only been receiving automated responses from you. I feel like a joke as on the eve of the elections you sent me an SMS asking me to vote for you and the ANC personally. Are you real or are you a robot?
Mr President, all I’m asking for is the customs clearing of all your imports and exports of all your high-profile vaccine procurement. The rest of the supply chain can be handled by other entities. Please give me a chance as a young black South African woman so that I can add value to myself, my family and my community.
Let us heal the nation together while creating employment for the young and the old, boost the ANC electorate, show the world that the ANC can really assist ordinary young black women in South Africa on the ground and will have a track record to prove it.
The ANC is an ancient organisation and you cannot be outdone by a new party like the EFF as they fight for their own young black women. Imagine if I was the first young black woman to customs clear the high-profile vaccine in our time?
The impact, inspiration and record it would have for us as a country and the continent especially to other young black women who want to be in the logistics industry?
Mr President, it seems like you are only there for the Arabs, the Chinese and your fellow comrades; you even visited a young Indian girl, what about us on the ground? You gave the entire tender to Imperial logistics, what about the role of SMMEs, why are you not empowering my small business? Please do something for me as a young black Xhosa female entrepreneur. My family has been voting for the ANC from the generation of my grandparents to my parents. I deserve to be a shining example of your organisation. We have paid it forward in many more ways than one!
Mr President, you said “you want to be there”, but you have not been there for me. Please be here for me like you promised in front of the whole world.
Many thanks in advance for your speedy response as since you came into power I have lost everything under your rule. Please give me back my dignity. Humble regards .
Nobulali, Kempton Park
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media and IOL.