Business performance at its lowest

Victor Mulangisi

The Covid-19 effect is upon everyone and every business. The town of Kuruman used to be busy throughout the month. Most hit are the shop owners whose activities are directly driven by the man on the street. However, property owners are not sympathetic with their lessees on the prevailing global crisis caused by the pandemic. A survey conducted in the town on October 20, 2020 showed that most shop owners cannot make ends meet. Most of them are giving excuses and postponing rental payments to their masters.

 Sales have dropped to a point where paying residential rentals are also beyond the reach of the shop owner. This has had a multiplier effect where employees are facing unavoidable retrenchments as shop owners have to face the realities of the business-related pandemic. An anonymous shop owner said that money circulation is no longer in the hands of many and this has caused a big slump in sales across the retail sector.

 “We used to be kept busy by an influx of customers. This time our cellphones are keeping us busy chatting, reading and playing games due to lack of customers. We encounter serious challenges especially during month ends when bills including rentals have to be paid. Landlords hardly believe in the Covid-19 effect; all they want is their money. The situation has squeezed us into a corner”, one businessman said.

Another shop owner said that lease agreements reached in 2019 or before must be maintained or reviewed on a downward scale because sales have shrunk dismally and everyone is failing to make ends meet. “My brother it’s just bad. When sales are down you start thinking how rentals shall be honoured and wages too. We wish our lessors could be on board with us over this crisis. Government too must come to our rescue by introducing a supportive recovery plan”.

  A few shoppers interviewed from different shops seemingly consolidated the difficulties that have manifested in the economy. While they admired fashionable designs on display, they openly disclosed that food has become the only necessity to overcome the prevailing challenges. Wearing of face masks in a business environment simply symbolizes the state of a world that is in turmoil.