WITH New Year’s Eve around the corner, not everybody is celebrating. Some businesses and entrepreneurs are still recovering from the KZN unrest in July, which saw widespread looting and arson.
The Durban-based market street vendor, Fanozi Khumalo recently shared his experience with the Berea Mail.
Khumalo, a small informal business owner, sells a variety of vegetables opposite the Warwick Avenue taxi rank in Durban.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Makro Springfield to reopen in December after #KZNunrest
“I heard the rumours about people looting. When I saw the images on TV I was shocked. I’m no different from business owners as I immediately thought of my side, wondering ‘what if that was my business being torn apart?’ It just didn’t feel right,” he said.
Khumalo explained that the hard lockdown impacted many people, but the KZN unrest made matters worse.
“It wasn’t safe. Our livelihood relies on being in public spaces to sell the items that we sell on the street. We had to sit at home and had to wait for the country to get things back to normal. I wasn’t earning any income because our stuff was looted and we couldn’t sell in our local streets as well because it was too dangerous,” he said.
ALSO READ: Queensmead Superspar reopens after looting
Khumalo said he thought to sell his vegetables door-to-door, as a last case scenario.
“I started my business in 2002 while I was still in high school. My father used to help me sell that time, but he passed away and I had to take over the business. This is the way I live and provide for my family,” he said.
“In the fight for food, we, as street sellers suffer, are not alone. The low-income families who rely on street vendors for food now have to pay more to get what they need. Some really depend on buying from us. I hope to never see anything like that again in my lifetime,” he added.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations. 
